BEING OUR COMPANION

EXPLORING SELF-FACILITATION THROUGH THE PRESENCE PROCESS

MICHAEL BROWN

Dedicated to:
All who explore Through the medium Of personal experience.

Edited by Terry Betty

CONTENTS

THE MOUNTAIN OF LIFE...................................................6 OUR READING EXPERIENCE............................................7 PART I: RECALIBRATING OUR INTENT.......................8 PART II: THE PRESENCE PROCESS A BRIEF RECAP...................................................................23 1. What is The Presence Process?........................................23 2. How does The Presence Process work?...........................23 3. Is it safe to practice consciously connected breathing without facilitation?...........................24 4. Why should we do The Presence Process?......................25 5. Can anyone do it?.............................................................25 PART III: QUESTIONS ASKED BEFORE ENTERING THE PRESENCE PROCESS......26 1. Are any specific preparations necessary before starting?26 2. Will The Presence Process interfere with our daily routines?................................................26 3. If our life experience is particularly challenging at the moment, will this Process add more difficulty?.............................................................................26 4. If we have already participated in healing workshops, and sometimes felt overwhelmed by them afterwards, how is this experience going to be any different?...........................................27 5. If we think we had a happy childhood, is it still necessary to enter this Process?..................28 6. What is the purpose of the water sessions?......................28 7. Should we stop smoking before we start?........................29 To deepen our understanding about the energetic content of our addictive experience it is necessary our discussion go beyond the why? of our experience and examine the who and what? When dueling with addiction, or nursing those who are, most of our attention is on the why? of the self-medicating and almost none is placed upon understanding the parameters of the source of the supply. By source of supply we are not referring to drug dealers, doctors, or pharmacists. It is necessary to go deeper than this; we are referring to the energetic protagonists of this experience. ...............................................................30 8. What healing modalities facilitate and support our journey through The Presence Process?. 36 PART IV: QUESTIONS ASKED DURING THE PRESENCE PROCESS.............................38 1. What can we do if, since entering The Presence Process we start feeling irritated for no reason at all? What can we do to control this?....................38 2. What can we do when we keep dozing off while attending to our breathing practice?..........40 3. Is it normal to feel tired and require added sleep during the Process?...................................41 4. What does it mean when we experience strange and vivid dreams?.......................................44 5. What should we do when we feel a core issue surfacing, but no matter how much we try, we cannot breathe our way through it?......................................44 6. What is happening when we feel weepy for no apparent reason, especially when we feel this way in public places? ..........................................................45 7. What is recommended when we find it challenging to put aside time to attend to our daily breathing? ............................................................................46 3

8. What if we do not understand what the breathing accomplishes and feel as though we are wasting our time? Is it possible to explain its mechanics in a way that assists us to motivate ourselves?.............................................................................48 9. What can we do about forgetting to repeat the Presence Activation Statement?....................49 10. What can we do about our thoughts being scattered during the breathing exercise?............50 11. Is it necessary to understand what happened in the past to integrate a suppressed memory? ..............................................................................................51 12. An incident occurred at work today that was upsetting. Are experiences like this always part of our processing?........................................................52 13. Since commencing The Presence Process I feel claustrophobic around my partner, even though it does not appear to be because of anything they are doing? Why is this?....................53 14. Is it possible that our emotional processing causes us to drift apart from our partner? .......55 15. Is it possible that our emotional processing causes our children to behave differently? .....57 16. Can our emotional processing cause our children to experience diarrhea and vomiting?....58 17. What is happening when we experience extreme bouts of distraction? ...............................60 18. How do we explain our involvement in The Presence Process to our family when they are not comfortable with this type of activity?.........................61 19. Is it necessary to hide our processing from people who are conservative in their religious viewpoint?............................................................................66 20. Can this Process cause us to lose our appetite for meat?68 21. What is happening when we discover that since entering this Process we are unable to tolerate alcohol in our body, even in small doses?..............74 22. When breathing for longer than 15 minutes an experience of numbness and cramping sometimes occurs in various parts the body. What causes this?.................................................77 23. Why is it that during our breathing session we experience a dry mouth and feel hungry or thirsty afterwards?...............................................................79 24. Why does entering the present moment through our connected breathing bring up the past? ..............................................................................................80 25. Why is it that despite being fit and healthy, we still feel physically drained after a 20minute warm water session? ..............................................83 26. THE PRESENCE PROCESS instructs us that when we begin a new session with its own Presence Activating Statement we are not to repeat the previous ones. Why? ..........................84 27. Please discuss the structure of The Presence Process and share what the intentions are behind its various procedures? ...........................................85 28. In THE POWER OF NOW Eckhart Tolle writes that one of the quickest ways to re-enter the body and the present moment is to intentionally feel our Inner Body. Why is this procedure not stressed and practiced in The Presence Process? .........87 29. In THE PRESENCE PROCESS it is written that the procedure of neutralizing negative emotional imprinting continues after we finish our 15 minute breathing session. How is this possible?...............................................................................88 30. Why do we only begin the water sessions in Session Seven?...............................................89 31. I am a heroine user attempting to resolve the cause of my addiction. Since starting the Process I have repeated nightmares about similar past life experiences. I am struggling with the fear these nightmares generate. THE PRESENCE PROCESS focuses on healing the child within us, but what about working with our past life traumas? What if the cause of addiction is not in this life?....................................................................90 PART V: QUESTIONS ASKED AFTER COMPLETING THE PRESENCE PROCESS....96 1. A friend is struggling with their life experience, how do we persuade them to do The Presence Process?...............................................................96 4

2. THE PRESENCE PROCESS states there is no intention to train facilitators in this procedure, why is this?..........................................................................97 3. Why is it necessary to continue our breathing practice after Session 10?............................105 4. After completing Session 10, how long do we wait before re-entering the Process?...........106 5. When we assist the body to heal itself by exercising a proper lifestyle and nutritional habits, it does so in an order of a priority determined by the consciousness of the body. Is there also an unfolding priority in neutralizing our negative emotional charge?......................................107 6. After completing the entire Process, aside from our 15 minutes breathing twice a day, are there other circumstances that we respond to by breathing ourselves?....................................108 7. What about the water sessions? How often do we attend to these after we complete the Process?..............................................................................110 8. What other activities can we instill into our life experience to enhance our relationship with our Inner Presence?...........................................................112 9. Why is it that since completing The Presence Process we are more aware of the suffering in the world, and yet feel less compelled to do something about it?............................................113 10. Is our ability to know about events before they occur a consequence of being connected to our Inner Presence?............................................................114 PART VI: EXPLORING EMOTIONAL BODY AWARENESS............................................118 1. What is recommended for those of us who have completed The Presence Process more than once and now feel ready to explore emotional body awareness?.............................................118 SPINNING.............................................................................................................................120 THE EMOTIONAL BODY RADIANCE STATEMENT.....................................................125 PRACTICING HEART AWARENESS................................................................................127 THE SALT/BICARBONATE SODA CLEANSE.................................................................129 RECOMMENDED EMOTIONAL BODY AWARENESS PROCESS................................130 PART VII: INNER WORK................................................131 1. Why is it that since completing The Presence Process, the practice of meditation takes on a whole new meaning?..........................................................131 2. Is it possible to further explore the subject of inner work with a view to recommending some type of practical application?.............................................134 CALL ME.............................................................................139

THE MOUNTAIN OF LIFE

Our life experience is a gift given through Grace. Metaphorically, it may be likened to an opportunity to climb a mountain so vast, that when we succeed in reaching its summit, we are able to see forever. Some of us look at beautiful pictures of this mountain by paging through coffee-table books in the comfort of our home. Some of us admire snapshots taken by adventurous friends who went sight-seeing and encountered the shadow of this mountain. Some of us are now journeying through the land in which this mountain arises, intending to take snapshots ourselves. Some of us are now standing at the base of this mountain, admiring its exquisite immensity. Some of us are enjoying a days trail a little distance up from the base. Some of us have sought out a professional guide and are now making our way up to summit the peak. No matter who we are, where we are, or what we are doing, we are all travelers making our way through different stages of this journey. Whether we are sitting on a couch or trudging towards the summit, our journey is priceless, because it is ours. The intent of BEING OUR COMPANION is to serve us all, regardless of where we are on our journey, and to honor us in a way that encourages us to honor ourselves. Enjoy the adventure.

Kindest regards, Michael.

OUR READING EXPERIENCE

BEING OUR COMPANION builds upon a foundation constructed by THE PRESENCE PROCESS, and therefore relies on us already containing this foundation within ourselves. It is recommended we continue attending to our 15 minute consciously connected breathing sessions twice a day to assist with integration of this experience. Staying with the intent to be causal in its approach, the text of BEING OUR COMPANION is driven by questions. The discussions arising from these questions are harvested from conversations initiated by hundreds of one-on-one facilitation experiences and feedback from participants across the planet. These discussions deepen our insight about this procedure and also carry us well beyond it by mapping out the next step: Activating emotional body awareness. To serve this intent we are given a new array of simple, sensible, and powerful procedures. We are advised not to skip specific discussions because their subject matter appears not to concern us. For example, if we are a non-smoker, or do not believe we entertain addictive tendencies, it is recommended we still read the discussions generated by these issues because they contain information valuable for our journey. Accordingly, it is recommended we read the whole of Part II; a brief recap of The Presence Process. This review assists us not only with our own personal integration of that procedure, but also equips us to explain the mechanisms of the Process to others. When THE PRESENCE PROCESS is written in capital letters, we are referring to the book, THE PRESENCE PROCESS: A Healing Journey Into Present Moment Awareness. When The Presence Process is capitalized at the beginning of each word, we are referring to the experiential 10-Session procedure within that book. Throughout BEING OUR COMPANION references are made to the text of THE PRESENCE PROCESS to guide us to related information and more detailed explanations about subject matters being raised. These references are placed in brackets throughout the text and appear as (TPP/Pg). This translates as: THE PRESENCE PROCESS and Page Number. Because the content of each discussion generated by the questions are self-contained, there are instances in which repetition of information occurs. As in THE PRESENCE PROCESS, we are encouraged to embrace this writing style as reinforcement, not repetition (TPP/Pg 19). The intent of the writing style is deliberate; it serves the conscious and unconscious. BEING OUR COMPANION is an energetic flow intended to activate ever-increasing emotional body awareness. If we encounter a sense of building confusion at any point on our journey, which may also be experienced as a sense of inner tension or anxiety, this is a clear signal we are attempting to confine the flow of the text into predictable or ordered logic. When this occurs, instead of attempting to mentally barge our way through these sensations with understanding, it is recommended we relax and place our full attention on feeling the nature of the energetic experience activated within us. When we feel the build-up of energy, confusion, or anxiety subside, our ability to continue our journey through the text once again enters a natural and effortless flow. No hurry, deadline, or schedule dictating the time required to complete our journey through this book exists other than the one we place upon ourselves.

NO

MATTER HOW A RIVER BEHAVES ALONG ITS COURSE

THE

OCEAN BECOMES PART OF OUR EXPERIENCE.

WHEN

WE SURRENDER TO ITS INTENT

PART I: RECALIBRATING OUR INTENT

Before entering the discussions fueled by the questions throughout this book, we are recalibrating the resonance of our intent. This is necessary because our journey through BEING OUR COMPANION is not only about exploring this text as a tool of support and integration for The Presence Process. It is also a means to guide us beyond that experience and into the next chapter of our journey; realigning the outflow of our awareness so it is initiated from the emotional body. This is emotional body awareness. The intent to activate emotional body awareness elevates us beyond the preoccupation of working with issues. It is not about examining the negativity in our life experience with the intent to extract wisdom from it. Functioning from emotional body awareness is choosing to function from the heart center as the causal point of our experiences. To accomplish this we move beyond reacting to the perceptual polarities we previously defined as positive and negative experiences. Instead, we intend a neutral relationship with our experiences. Neutrality is a necessity when intending authentic unification. THE PRESENCE PROCESS, by empowering us to realize our negative experiences of the past are the rich fertilizer for emotional growth in the present moment, sets us up to awaken to the realization that there is no negative experience; only growth opportunities exist. When we resist our growth opportunities, when we hide and run from them, they become possessive demons. We then call them negative experiences, hardships, evils, and fall into the trap of blaming others for them. This opens the door to the illusory hallways of victim and victor mentality. Once we realize there is no negative experience, we are on the brink of moving beyond polarity-consciousness and into what we conceptually call oneness. WHEN
THERE IS NO NEGATIVE, HOW IS IT POSSIBLE FOR THERE TO BE A POSITIVE ?

The realization that there are not two sides, a good one and a bad one, is essential for us to feel safe enough within ourselves to open our heart center and to keep it open. An open heart, like an innocent child, sees no good or bad. Like cleansing the emotional body, activating emotional body awareness while entertaining a polarized experience also requires a journey, a process. However, this journey is not as guided and structured as The Presence Process; it is an experience monitored primarily through feeling, personal responsibility, and a greater reliance on inner guidance. Understanding where we are going and what we are accomplishing is therefore not obvious, logical, or linear. Specific details, like the intensity and regularity of how we wield the emotional body awareness procedures we are introduced to in this book, are placed in our hands. We are given recommendations, but the responsibility is ours. Activating emotional body awareness is therefore a journey of intensified self-facilitation; a state of being in which we behave as though no one is out there. To this end we wield our mental body more as a tool of navigation than understanding. What is possible is now more significant than how it is possible. Once we comprehend what is possible, we are then required to maturely navigate ourselves into the experience through self-determined activity. We are invited to enter a new level of personal and collective responsibility. Our time for personal drama is passed. This is our opportunity to evolve beyond our personal issues or predicament by contributing to the collective human Dharma. We are now invited to behave like emotionally grown-up humans, to become conscious self-facilitators, to embrace our destiny as integrated adults. Our challenge is to release the sensual trinkets we cling too; the pleasure-crutches that still possess us, confine our behavior to predictability, keep us hooked into the dance of time, and ultimately prevent us from being authentic.

TO

NAVIGATE OUR INNER JOURNEY INTO AUTHENTICITY, WE MUST BECOME WHAT WE PREVIOUSLY REQUIRED OTHERS TO BE FOR US, AND LEARN TO GIVE OURSELVES WHAT WE THOUGHT WE NEEDED FROM THE WORLD.

BEING OUR COMPANION introduces us to containment and discernment. Along with responsibility, the behavioral trait supporting the intent of THE PRESENCE PROCESS, these three together construct the behavioral trinity necessary to activate and maintain emotional body awareness. Emotional body awareness requires accepting responsibility for our energy system by managing it through containment and discernment. This is the journey. BEING OUR COMPANION therefore not only discusses our experience of The Presence Process, like a study guide, but it also assists us to deepen our explorations into selffacilitation through the already established dynamics of The Presence Process. This adds a new dimension to The Presence Process; that procedure now becomes a working model that empowers us to add depth to our level of responsibility. Just as The Presence Process uses our life experience as a tool to teach us about the mechanics of operating in a time-based paradigm, and therefore how to extract ourselves from it, BEING OUR COMPANION uses The Presence Process as a tool to prepare us for the level of self-facilitation required to activate emotional body awareness. Initiating this new level of self-facilitation requires a perceptual adjustment; a transformation in the way we interact with ourselves, in the way we are being with ourselves. This is the recalibration of our intent. This perceptual adjustment entails taking on the responsibilities we previously assumed to be the jurisdiction of our family, friends, community, politicians, and priests. We take back the power we gave to, or required from, the world, and from the realms unseen. We invite ourselves to become the one to whom we answer. There is an expression, The buck stops here. This means, I am the causal point of my experience. As we enter BEING OUR COMPANION, this initial discussion is intended to invite us to step into this state of being, for when we embrace this resonance, we are able to do what is necessary to open the door of our heart, and to keep it open, no matter what. Living in a time-based paradigm is like sitting on a runaway cart pulled by two out of control horses. The one horse is our egoic or manufactured identity, and the other is the thinking mind. While living in time we are so battered around by the erratic momentum of the cart that we spend our life experience reacting; attempting to steady ourselves and feel comfortable. This reactive behavior is called the pursuit of happiness. Our attention is so magnetized by our discomfort that we do not look up and perceive the cause; the manic behavior of the two horses running crazed and unsupervised. Not only are they running out of control, but they have long since dragged the cart away from any semblance of a road and are consequently leading us over a terrain that is shaking the cart to pieces. The road these two horses drag us away from is the present moment, and the terrain now rattling us to pieces is the illusory mental realm called time. Unless we gain enough awareness about our circumstances to take the reins responsibly, we are doomed to a fearful and uncomfortable journey ending in inevitable tragedy. The tragedy is that under these circumstances we do not consciously respond to Life; our entire experience is an unconscious reaction to our chaotic predicament. The first step in awakening from this nightmare is to regain enough awareness about our current predicament to realize the source of our discomfort; we are in a runaway cart dragged along by two unguided, crazed horses. The next step is to take the reins and bring some semblance of calmness to the chaos. Only then can we redirect ourselves, only then can we adjust the quality of our experience. The Presence Process empowers us to accomplish this:

IT

ASSISTS US TO GAIN PHYSICAL PRESENCE;

to realize we are on a runaway cart.

IT ASSISTS US TO GAIN MENTAL CLARITY; to realize our immediate source of discomfort is caused by the manic and irresponsible behavior of our ego and our thinking mind. IT ASSISTS US discomfort.
TO REGAIN EMOTIONAL BALANCE;

it instructs us how to ease our own emotional

When we are ready to stop entertaining victim and victor mentality, and to accept full responsibility for the quality of our life experience, these three adjustments enable us to liberate ourselves from the dream of time.

10

Throughout THE PRESENCE PROCESS:

We discuss our journey towards personal liberation responsibility for the quality of our life experience.

by

emphasizing

taking

We wield a perceptual tool called The Emotional Cleansing Process (TPP, Pg 195) giving us the opportunity to prove that the quality of our experience is determined by its emotional content. We examine The Pathway of Awareness and The Seven Year Cycle (TPP, Pg 40) to illustrate that the emotional content is the causal point of all our experiences in this world.

BEING OUR COMPANION now invites us to integrate the consequences of the above insights; that we are not only responsible for the quality of our experiences, but for all our experiences, quality and quantity. In THE PRESENCE PROCESS we do not initially state this because we enter that experience still standing in a world of victim and victor mentality. For anyone to tell us, when we are blinded by victim or victor mentality, that we are responsible for all our experiences, is to insult our sensibilities. This is because the vacuum created by removing the opportunity for us to blame someone or something else for our circumstances is too much to digest. There is an expression, Softly, softly catchy monkey. This means do not be in a hurry to accomplish something of value. In THE PRESENCE PROCESS we therefore invite the realization of absolute responsibility by initially introducing the possibility of only being responsible for the quality of our experiences; that we may not be responsible for what is happening in this moment, but we are responsible for how we interact with it. We accomplish this by demonstrating how our interaction in a time-based paradigm is a reaction, and then we are instructed how to transform this conditioned reflex into responsive behavior by neutralizing the negatively imprinted emotional charge driving us into reactivity. This approach is non-threatening, enabling us to gradually open our mind towards accepting the possibility, predicament, and consequences of taking absolute responsibility for our entire life experience. Once we complete The Presence Process it is evident to us through personal experience that there is a greater relationship with the dynamics of our life experience than only being responsible for our interaction with it. This becomes increasingly evident as we enter present moment awareness, because as we do we experience moments in which we effortlessly place our attention and intention upon something, and then witness it manifesting in our field of activity. DOES
THIS HAPPEN BECAUSE WE ARE AWARE IT IS ABOUT TO, OR BECAUSE WE INTEND IT?

These experiences open the doorway to possibilities and consequences beyond only being responsible for our attitude; we may also be responsible for our altitude, longitude, and latitude. While our behavior is driven by the discomfort in our emotional body and we are reacting to this by desiring to change the nature of our experience, we first direct the focus of our attention to the quality of our experiences. This is because the quality of our experience is something we can change, and by changing this aspect of our experience, we come to a place in our journey where attempting to change everything so that we feel comfortable is not the driving force beneath our behavior. We then take a breather from trying to sedate and control every aspect of our life experience. This releases us from our continual and reflexive propensity to dive into one experience fueled by an urge to leap away from another; the foundation of polarity-mentality. As we accomplish a level of calmness within ourselves, we can open our mind to the concept of surrender; the possibility of flowing with what is unfolding, and not attempting to interfere with it via control and sedation. Only when we enter this frequency of surrender, do we allow ourselves to perceive the truth of our predicament: OUR
ENTIRE LIFE EXPERIENCE IS HAPPENING BECAUSE WE ARE IN IT.

11

OUR WE

PERCEPTION IS OUR CONNECTION TO IT.

ARE NOT SEPARATE FROM ANYTHING WE PERCEIVE.

Awakening to the extent of our intimate connection with the outer world is a rite of passage that goes hand in hand with the realization that it is not possible to control or sedate our outer experiences through outer activity because they are always an externalization of our inner condition. Realizing that the outer is a reflection of the inner is the bridge carrying us from being unconscious humans to God-consciousness. Comprehending this experientially is called Self-realization. This level of integrated experience qualifies us to awaken from the simulated experience in time called living, into the vibrant reality of the present moment called Life. This journey is the movement from believing our power is coming from out there to knowing it is radiating from in here. The moment we integrate this we leave the outer world alone and re-enter ourselves. This accomplishment is forged in knowing it is our level of responsibility, our dedication to impeccability, no matter what, that qualifies us to awaken into our spiritual destiny. We accomplish this as a knowing by taking active steps leading us away from victor and victim mentality into the inner pathway of conscious self-facilitation. This inner knowing is the fruit of an intent that declares:
WHAT WE CANNOT YET PERCEIVE WITHIN OURSELVES. EVERYTHING.

NOBODY

AND NOTHING IS OUT THERE; OUR ENTIRE EXPERIENCE OF OUR OUTER WORLD IS AN EXTERNAL REPRESENTATION OF

WE

UNDERSTAND THIS NOW, BUT WE DO NOT YET KNOW IT.

THEREFORE,

WE

ARE PROVING THIS TO OURSELVES BY BEHAVING AS THOUGH WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR OUTER EXPERIENCE OF EVERYONE AND

THIS

DOES NOT MEAN WE INTEND TO SEDATE OR CONTROL OUR OUTER EXPERIENCE BY FORCING THE HARMONY WE

SEEK UPON IT; WE INTEND ACCOMPLISHING THIS PEACE WITHIN OURSELVES.

WORLD ALSO COMES TO PEACE, THEN WE KNOW WHO AND WHAT WE ARE.

THIS

IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY. IN THIS MATTER

BECAUSE, WHEN WE ACCOMPLISH THIS, IF OUR OUTER THIS IS WHY WE CHOOSE TO FACILITATE OURSELVES. WE INTEND IMPECCABILITY.

Becoming a self-facilitator is not only about realizing we are responsible for all our experiences, but also about opening ourselves to the possibility that what we consider in time as a personal experience, is not occurring to us in isolation at all; that there is a level of perception in which our personal experiences reveal themselves as inseparable from anyone elses, an energetic dimension in which every aspect of our being is connected to every aspect of everything and everyone else in our perceived experience. IS PERSONAL EXPERIENCE REALITY OR ILLUSION? Awareness of this level of interdependence is a consequence of entering the paradigm of felt-perception called emotional body awareness; a paradigm elevating us from the predominantly mental experience of understanding into the integrated physical, mental, and emotional experience of knowing. Becoming a self-facilitator is choosing to behave as though we are responsible for every aspect of our life experience because we are seeking to become vulnerable to knowing we are inseparable from anything we perceive, that our perception of anything is our intimate connection with it. WHAT
ARE THE IMPLICATIONS WHEN OUR PERCEPTION OF ANYTHING IS OUR INTIMATE CONNECTION WITH IT, THAT BY PERCEIVING SOMETHING WE AFFECT IT BY OUR PRESENCE?

This level of integrated experience, one in which we know we are linked to everything through the process of our perceiving it, is the energetic paradigm we are entering when we channel the flow of our awareness from the causal point of our experiences in this world; the emotional body. By entering the causal paradigm we become the cause. Voluntarily activating emotional body awareness therefore means we are entering a paradigm in which we perceive the impact of our presence on everyone and everything in this world. Are we ready for this and the subsequent level of the responsibility it necessitates? When comprehending that nothing we think, do, or say occurs in isolation, that it initiates real consequences on the entirety of our experience, we face a choice: We run and hide.

12

We navigate our intent into impeccable integrity.

Entering this level of awareness is not a welcome thought when our integrity is not a priority in our life experience. The consequence of comprehending the magnitude of our level of connectedness with our world is only palatable and digestible when we are willing to access the emotional maturity to move our current behavior into impeccable integrity. Integrity and responsibility are inseparable counterparts on our journey into emotional body awareness. By allowing ourselves to perceive our life experience through the eyes of the energetic currents flowing causally beneath the surfaces of this world, we perceive no separation between us, the cart, the horses, and the road we travel upon. This is not a perception we seek to entertain when we are still driven by large doses of self-destructive unconscious drama. This is why we approach the experience of emotional body awareness through a Process that first cleanses the unconscious self-destructive impulses behind the thoughts, words, and deeds. It is one thing knowing we are inflicting pain on ourselves; it is another altogether opening our heart to the consequences of this self-destructive behavior on our entire reality. Conceptually understanding the profound impact of our presence in this world and knowing it experientially are two different frequencies of perception. It is part of our evolutionary process to first conceptualize, to think about the possibilities and consequences of oneness, before leaping into this perception experientially. This gives us time to embrace the frequency of responsibility, to awaken to the implications of cause and effect. We must first awaken to the conscience of consequence because the frequency of responsibility in a oneness paradigm is: As much as we see and hear is as much as we are responsible for. Once we activate felt-perception through awakening our emotional body awareness, we know this is true, because then as much as we see and hear is also as much as we are able to feel. This is why, before awakening to God-realization, it is necessary to accomplish Selfrealization, and before accomplishing Self-realization, it is necessary to master selffacilitation, and the doorway into mastering self-facilitation, is taking the actions founded in becoming responsible for the quality and content of our experiences. What God is cannot pass the buck. God cannot say, Who did this? or Why did this happen? When we therefore intend to evolve into our fullest potential, into the image in which we are cloned, we eliminate the possibility of assigning responsibility for anything elsewhere.
ACCEPTING THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PERCEIVE THEM AUTHENTICALLY. Becoming a self-facilitator requires making an adjustment to our perception of ourselves and in our behavior towards ourselves. Accomplishing this perceptual and behavioral adjustment lightens our way when we embrace it as a means to add more fun, playfulness, and joyful activity into our relationship with ourselves. It invites us to bring out the child in us and to assume the role of the integrated adult.

ENTERING

ONENESS EXPERIENTIALLY IS NOT ACCOMPLISHED WHEN DRIVEN BY A DESIRE TO CHANGE OUR CIRCUMSTANCES, BUT BY

GOD

IS ONLY SERIOUS WHEN WE OCCUPY A TIME-BASED PARADIGM.

IN

THE PRESENT MOMENT,

GOD

IS PLAYING.

Making this adjustment in the way we perceive and behave towards ourselves necessitates we move against the currents of our egoic identity and thinking mind. We stop identifying with the behavior of the two runaway horses. Instead, we are invited to transform their behavior into useful attributes by assisting them to become aware they are not functioning independently of anything. We accomplish this level of transformation in them by first realizing this truth within ourselves, and then behaving accordingly, i.e. through setting an example. As self-facilitators we become our own role models. While operating in a time-based paradigm, our wild horses, our egoic identity and the thinking mind, are so panic-stricken they do not realize they are pulling a cart, let alone that we are on it, or that a road called the present moment is available. While operating in a timebased paradigm, even we do not realize this because our constant discomfort causes us to identify with our experience. This is why The Presence Process shows us through The Emotional Cleansing Process that we are not our experience; we are having an experience. By wielding this perceptual tool we realize experientially that we cannot change ourselves, but that we can change the quality of the experience we are moving through. This realization is

13

necessary because to transform the behavior of our ego and our thinking mind requires being able to stand back from them and observe them; to realize we are not them. They are endowed with life, but this is life we have placed into them, and so it responds to our presence when we stand in our power. They are also like children; they learn by example, not by shouting and screaming or force and control. To accomplish transforming their behavior from the manic undisciplined brutes they are in time into the useful attributes as is their destiny in the present moment, we first accomplish this transition within ourselves. By transforming our perception of and behavior towards ourselves we automatically set an example for them. ALL
LEARNING IN THIS UNIVERSE IS ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH EXAMPLE.

This is the frequency of self-facilitation: Ending our intent to seek an example in the outer world of the unity we seek to experience within ourselves. We become the example of unification for ourselves. Our ability to behave responsibly is no longer determined by the presence of others, but how we interact towards ourselves when we are alone; it is no longer reactive. We do not behave responsibly just because we think someone is watching us. We stop behaving as though we are functioning independently and in isolation from everything and everyone when we are alone. We function as if our every thought, word, and, deed is etched across the sky, especially when there are no witnesses. This is the journey into authenticity. WE
ARE NOT ALONE. BELIEVING THIS IS POSSIBLE.

BEHAVING AS THOUGH WE ARE BECAUSE WE PHYSICALLY PERCEIVE OURSELVES TO BE HYPNOTIZES US INTO THIS STATE OF SELF-HYPNOSIS PREVENTS US FROM EXPERIENCING ONENESS WITH EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING.

We awaken ourselves from this hypnotic spell by acknowledging and enlisting the presence of a creative group-dynamic called our C.A.S.T.; an abbreviation for Compassionate Attention Support Team. Our C.A.S.T. is our inner group-dynamic; a collective representation of the expression of our presence as we move through our experience of this world. They are not who we are, or what we are, just as the employees of a business are not the owner of the business. Like the employees of a business do for the owner, our C.A.S.T. represents us, assists us, supports us, and serves us. And, like an owner does for their employees, while we are in this world, we too represent, assist, support, and serve our C.A.S.T. Acknowledging our C.A.S.T. initiates group mentality into our behavior without requiring the reflection of an outer group from the world; we recognize ourselves as already being a group moving through this world. The ego and the thinking mind believe the authentic nature of our presence in this world is that we are a solitary being moving about alone, and so we can become lonely, abandoned, and isolated. These illusory states are achieved because the ego identifies its personality and the belief systems of the thinking mind as comprising the entirety of who and what we are. The world in a time-based paradigm encourages this perspective because it is the playground, the empire, the manifestation, and the heaven of the ego and the thinking mind. When we believe in the thinking minds concept of what an identity is, which it demonstrates by portraying our ego as the perfect example of an identity, we are unaware of other aspects of our experience equally relevant in being acknowledged as expressions of our identity in this world. We then experience inner discomfort and outer disharmony because we place all our attention on the manufactured identity of the ego and ignore the wide array of attributes that constitute the expression of our presence in this world. Because we do not recognize them does not mean they discontinue expressing themselves; they become our unconscious activity, often functioning in ways that disregard our well-being. As individual components, they then behave like we do when we are operating from the segregated perception symptomatic of the time-based experience; they lack the conscience of consequence. It is therefore back-to-front enforcing oneness in our outer experience when inwardly we are a presence divided and behaving as though we are living in isolation. The first step to restoring our internal harmony is acknowledging there is more to the content of our expression in the world than the identity portrayed by our ego and the belief systems of the thinking mind. There is more to the expression of our presence than these two

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crazed and out of control horses; we are a magnificent and astonishing multi-dimensional salad of attributes. THE PRESENCE PROCESS commenced the task of introducing us to our other dimensions by creating an awareness of our Inner Presence and by establishing an interaction with our child self. It introduced us to the dynamics unfolding between these different aspects by explaining how the condition of our child self determines the circumstances of our adult experience. Experiencing the impact of these internal dynamics on the quality of our outer experience assists us to perceive the necessity to pay attention to these inner attributes as a means to cleanse ourselves of discomfort. By acknowledging the importance of our Inner Presence and our child self we increased our experience of inner peace and outer harmony. What is possible by acknowledging more of the attributes through which we express our presence in this world? What is possible when we consciously facilitate the dynamics between them? BEING OUR COMPANION introduces us to a wider range of inner attributes, not because they are fighting amongst each other, or because they are attacking us and making our life experience miserable, but because they exist within the construct of our present experience. By being aware of them, we activate greater awareness. Not necessarily in any order of importance, they are:

OUR GOD SELF: This is the most we comprehend ourselves to be, then more. Our God self manifests outwardly as the creation or mind-matrix we are experiencing, and inwardly as that which is unspeakable. MIND/CREATION: Mind is the matrix of the creation into which our souls externalize themselves and in which we experience ourselves in this life. Mind is made up of a trinity of physical, mental, and emotional awareness, or what is also called the material (physical), astral(emotional), and causal(mental) planes.

OUR INNER PRESENCE: This is our higher self, our whole or holy spirit. It accompanies us into the mind-matrix and remains with us through all our experiences. It serves as an intermediary link to our God self. It facilitates the internalization process required to know thyself which enables us to evolve beyond this simulated experience. OUR FATHER SELF: This is our attribute of inner guidance and is an aspect of our Inner Presence. It manifests outwardly as our physical birth father, as males significantly older than us, and inwardly as our male principle, and our active relationship with whatever our belief system enables us to perceive God as. The awareness of our father self is initiated by aligning ourselves with our own source of inner guidance. OUR MOTHER SELF: This is our attribute of inner nurturing and is an aspect of our Inner Presence. It manifests outwardly as our birth mother, as females significantly older than us, and inwardly as our feminine principle. The awareness of our Mother self is initiated by aligning ourselves with our own inner source of nurturing. OUR INTEGRATED ADULT SELF: This is our adult self transformed through selffacilitation into embracing impeccable responsibility as a way of being. It is the intermediary between our other attributes and our Inner Presence and therefore a physical, mental, and emotional manifestation of our Inner Presence in this world. It functions from present moment awareness, yet it also operates in a time-based paradigm. It is activated once we achieve integrated perception by initiating emotional body awareness. OUR ADULT SELF: This is our worldly identity based on a combination of how we perceive ourselves and how the world reflects us. Our adult self is a composite containing our ego self and our thinking mind. In a time-based paradigm it reflects the emotional composition of our birth parents and the emotional imprinting of all

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experiences occurring during the first seven years of our life. Though containing the physical form of an adult, it contains the belief systems of a fourteen year old and the emotional maturity of a seven year old.

OUR BROTHER SELF: This is an aspect of our male principle. It interacts with our mental body assisting us to learn our life lessons. It is born into our awareness and becomes an evolutionary tool when we commence inner child work. It is reflected outwardly in our birth brothers, in our closest male friends or any males approximating our age who play a significant role at any point of our life experience. OUR SISTER SELF: This is an aspect of our feminine principle. It interacts with our emotional body assisting us to heal our life experience and keeping us aligned with the cycles of the universe. It is born into our awareness and becomes an evolutionary tool when we commence inner child work. It is reflected outwardly as our birth sisters, in our closest female friends or any female approximating our age playing a significant role at any point of our life experience. OUR TEENAGER SELF: This is the rebellious frequency within us shirking the insistence of the world that we grow up and become more responsible. This attribute protects us from becoming controlling and sedated adults, and from living only for the benefit of others needs and wants. When we are disconnected from our teenager self we lack awareness of our child self. OUR CHILD SELF: This is our joy, abundance, creativity, and playful spontaneity. It is the key to the door leading into emotional body awareness. It is the causal point of our experiences while we are in this world and therefore the heart of the matter. When attended to by our adult self it evolves into our brother and sister selves. OUR MALE SIDE: This manifests outwardly as the right-hand-side of our physical body and inwardly as the attribute overseeing the application of the mental body as a tool of navigation. It is the attribute of attention. It is also the hand of giving and the overseer of discernment. OUR FEMALE SIDE: This manifests outwardly as the left-hand-side of our physical body and inwardly as the attribute overseeing the application of the emotional body as a fuel source for inner movement. It is the attribute of intention. It is also the hand of receiving and the overseer of containment. OUR INDIGENOUS SELF: This is the attribute connecting our consciousness to any manifestation of our God self in the natural world. Fully developed, it manifests outwardly as our medicine man, Shamanic warrior, or Goddess Self. It contains the ability to integrate our physical, mental, and emotional experiences into a metaphoric paradigm enabling us, while we are in this world, to speak to God through any aspect of the creation, particularly through the elements, plant kingdom, animals, and inanimate objects. It is instrumental in bringing our male and female selves into balance with each other. OUR EGOIC IDENTITY: This is the mortal image of who and what we become to enter and participate in the illusions of the time-based paradigm. It manifests physically, mentally, and emotionally as a composite of how we project ourselves into the world and how the world reflects us. Energetically, it resonates with our birth name, or whatever name we make for ourselves. Though it is an illusion, through our belief in it we endow it with life. It believes the mind-matrix and the intelligence overseeing it is God, the time-based paradigm is all that exists, and the other attributes making up the composite of our expression in this world, when it is aware of them, are here to serve it. Its frequency is seeing is believing as long as it is what Im looking for.

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THE THINKING MIND: This is who and what the mental body becomes distorted into to maintain and participate in the illusions of a time-based paradigm. It reflects on the past and projects itself into the future. It believes the ego-identity is the son of god, the time-based paradigm is all that exists, and the other attributes making up the composite of our expression in this world, when it is aware of them, are here to listen to it. Its frequency is seeing is believing, as long as it is what I think is real. OUR NEGATIVE EMOTIONAL CHARGE: This is also called our drama. This is who and what the emotional body is distorted into to maintain and participate in the illusions of a time-based paradigm. It manifests through the emotional body as grief, through the mental body as anger, and through the physical body as fear. Because of our belief in it, we endow it with life and hence it lives. It reflects on the fear, anger, and grief of the past, and continuously projects itself fearfully into the future. It aligns itself physically, mentally, and emotionally with the ego and the thinking mind; together these three manufacture an unholy trinity. It too believes the time-based paradigm is all that exists, and the other attributes making up the composite of our expression in this world, when it is aware of them, are here to assist it with its endless performance. Its frequency is seeing is believing, as long as it is me playing the role of the dying victim or victor on stage. OUR PHYSICAL BODY: This is our physical connection to the mind-matrix. The physical body is the vehicle intended for anchoring and focusing our consciousness in the phenomenal world. It enables us to interact outwardly with creation, and inwardly to manifest a point of focus for our awareness when ready to depart this simulation. OUR MENTAL BODY: This is our mental connection to the mind-matrix. It serves as a navigational system; as a tool of attention enabling us to outwardly or inwardly direct and place our intent. OUR EMOTIONAL BODY: This is our energetic connection to the mind-matrix. It serves as the energetic fuel system powering the momentum of our awareness while in this world. It enables us to move outwardly by energetically fueling the manifestation of experiences in the world, or inwardly by propelling us beyond the limitations of this simulation when ready. It is the causal point of our experiences while in the physical world. OUR VIBRATIONAL BODY: This is our inner vibrational vehicle. Its closest outer world description is the trinity of sound, light, and felt-perception. This is the vehicle we use to enter what we conceptually call our spiritual reality; an experience beyond the physical, mental, and emotional limitations of the mind-matrix. To enter our vibrational body we detach from, and hence die to, our outer experience. This level of detachment does not occur at the moment of our physical death, at which time we cast off our physical body and enter astral and/or causal consciousness. To authentically enter our vibrational body, we must detach from this world while we are still living in it and still occupying a functional physical body. We therefore die and are reborn into it while still alive. OUR UNCONSCIOUS SELF: This is all that is unknown to us and is represented in the physical world by the percentage of our brain we do not appear to be using. In a timebased paradigm it is what we do not know about ourselves and this world. As we enter present moment awareness and our entire physical, mental, and emotional world becomes known to us as an island in an unlimited ocean, the unconscious self then transforms into this unlimited ocean. Only when we succeed in entering our vibrational body does the unlimited ocean become known and hence the unconscious self cease to be.

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The C.A.S.T. represents the attributes of our multi-dimensional presence in this world relevant to our journey from a time-based paradigm and into present moment awareness. Each one is essential to our functioning here and to our successful liberation from the sleep of time. Behaving as though we are alone is therefore delusional. By accepting these attributes as much a part of our identity as is the ego, we have the company of at least 22 dimensions while here. This does not include our angelic, demonic, and extraterrestrial dimensions, or dimensions so foreign to our perceptual capacities that their description defies our limited comprehension. We are not and cannot be alone. Behaving from this point of realization is the responsible approach for accomplishing a full and unified inner and outer life experience.

IS AN ILLUSION, BECAUSE IN THIS WORLD,

AUTHENTIC WHEN WE ENTER ILLUSION ONLY POSSIBLE TO

I-CONSCIOUSNESS IS ONLY I-NESS IS AN PERPETUATE WITHIN THE EXPERIENCE OF EGOIC SEPARATION AND ISOLATION; I ALWAYS NECESSITATES YOU. ONENESS OBLITERATES YOU AND THEREFORE ANNIHILATES I. GOD-REALIZATION,
AND WHEN WE DO,

WE

IS THE RESONANCE OF AUTHENTICITY.

I-CONSCIOUSNESS

IS UNNECESSARY.

One of the challenges inherent in moving through the procedure of The Presence Process, and beyond that journey into emotional body awareness, is we cannot invite anyone from our outer world experience to accompany us. When attending to our emotional evolution, there is no benefit in outside acknowledgement, validation, or support; it must be self-acquired. Our soul responsibility is our sole responsibility. It is our responsibility to support, validate, and acknowledge ourselves, despite the tendency of the world to only value behavior and activity that it encourages, acknowledges, and validates. The task of growing up emotionally is a journey taken individually to be authentic; it is self-generated. God does not require our individual encouragement to function as God; Gods motivation for being God comes from being God. Our liberation from a timebased paradigm necessitates we embrace this same impeccable self-determination. Not determination based on selfishness, but on realizing the consequence of our presence in this world. Initially, as we embrace the prospect of activating self-determination to accomplish authentic emotional growth, we may feel alone or lonely. This is normal; we are exiting an experience founded on reactive behavior and are used to sourcing the motivation for our behavior from the presence of others. Feeling lonely is a beneficial indicator that we are making progress; it is a state of withdrawal from outer dependency. The higher we climb towards the summit of The Mountain of Life, the less outer support we experience. This is the nature of the journey inward in a world worshiping outward movement. When growing up emotionally is our quest, we trade in quantity for quality. As we walk in solitude we become this quality regardless of whether our actions are witnessed by others or not. Adopting an undisciplined stance at these inner heights because we think we are alone and therefore unobserved causes us to stumble and fall. Impeccability, to be authentic, is nurtured in solitude. Moving through and beyond the illusion of feeling lonely is a deliberate rite of passage placed on the pathway inward and upward to separate the wheat from the chaff. If we cannot overcome this feeling of aloneness, if we cannot embrace the awareness that internal solitude is the fertile terrain for our emotional growth, if we cannot learn how to acknowledge and validate ourselves, we turn back into the embrace of the world, the company of the ego, and the voice of the thinking mind. We cannot adjust the quality of our circumstances or impact any other dimension of our experience by enlisting the support and companionship of the outer world, the ego, or thinking mind as they behave in a time-based paradigm. The ego believes it is perfect as it is and the thinking mind is addicted to familiarity. The ego does not believe any changes are necessary to its separation-based experience of reality, though it delights in attempting to change the world to fit in with its perceptions of itself. The thinking mind encourages the idea of making changes, because this gives it something to think about. Yet, because it is addicted to familiarity, it will, like the ego, sabotage and resist attempts to change any aspect of its experience. By allowing these two horses to continue as they are, we invite discomfort. Alternatively, if we take the reins and apply our will upon them through control or force, they

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fight to defend the mistaken perception that they are in control by also resorting to force. In a time-based paradigm, these two horses perceive being out of control as normal behavior. This is all they know. Because of the egos current state of terror and the thinking minds confusion they resist all change. Considering our current predicament of metaphorically being in a runaway cart, forcefully controlling our ego or binding our thinking mind is not recommended. This approach causes a level of chaos, a frequency of reactivity, a burst of resistance, which invites disaster; the possibility of our cart being tipped over, smashed, and our movement through this world shattered. The cart is our physical body; without it we are souls adrift like plankton at the mercy of the oceans currents. Instead of attempting to destroy the ego or binding the thoughts of the thinking mind, as is the approach of some traditional self-transformational modalities, we are instead inviting them to transform along with our intent to transform every other aspect of our life experience. These two horses are useful. The benefits of our relationship with them are clear in the present moment. They are indispensable counterparts in entering oneness experientially. We are therefore to accomplish inner harmony, not by control or force, nor by exclusion or any type of suppression, but by initiating a conscious and harmonious relationship within our inner group. This includes our relationship with our ego and our thinking mind. Restoring unity into all interactions within our C.A.S.T. is our primary responsibility. By accepting this task, by willingly leading the way, we begin transforming our adult self into our integrated adult self. The first step in accomplishing this is transforming the trinity of our vocalized ego identity, the me, myself, and I aspect of our vocabulary, into the trinity of a groupconsciousness, of our C.A.S.T. The vocalized trinity of our inner group-consciousness becomes we, ourselves, and us. We initiate this adjustment through self-speak; through the language we use whenever talking to ourselves. We talk to ourselves continuously. The consequence of making this adjustment is that we as a collective cease to feel alone as we enter the solitude of our inner journey. Installing the vocalized frequency of we automatically establishes an awareness of there being others. Using we in our self-speak breaks the self-hypnosis of I-ness that leads us to believe being alone is possible. Behaving as though we are independent of anything or anyone also then diminishes. By making this adjustment in the way we relate to ourselves it is no longer, I am going through this life by myself and therefore it is up to me. It now becomes, we are going through this life together and therefore it is up to us. By standing in front of a mirror and saying these two sentences out loud to ourselves, we feel the difference in their resonances. (Do this.) The former statement is vulnerable to anxiety, because it pays homage to an illusion by entertaining the possibility of being alone and separated. The latter declaration is a support and comfort because it radiates the resonance of togetherness, company, and companionship. This simple adjustment in our self-speak and our perception of ourselves applied through the vocabulary we use during any self-communication initially feels awkward. Any awkwardness about this is not coming from us; it is coming from the ego and the thinking mind. The ego perceives itself as a solitary entity and therefore assumes soul responsibility for everything. The thinking mind believes it alone knows everything. The ego does not embrace the idea of interdependence, which it perceives as weakness. The thinking mind does not embrace the possibility of entering a state of knowing without thinking. To it, knowing without thinking is impossible. By introducing the we frequency into our self-speak, we challenge these paradigms without attack, sedation, or control. No force is applied. We are un-hypnotizing ourselves. It is called softly-softly catchy monkey. Circumstances in which the ego feels comfortable using the words we, us, and ourselves to include others are: When manipulating others into participating in its personal agendas. When diffusing responsibility for its actions. When taking ownership of others accomplishments.

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When making this perceptual transition through the use of our vocabulary we therefore only apply this tool when talking to ourselves. While still exiting a time-based paradigm, to speak to others about our personal experiences in terms of we is to function from assumption, to cause confusion, to be pretentious, and annoying. This is called trying to be one; when entering oneness experientially our vocabulary is inclusive without any trying on our part. It is not difficult to accept the possibility that what we once perceived as our solitary ego-based identity is only a small portion of a larger identity, one comprising a variety of attributes functioning together as a group. OUR
AWARENESS OF OUR ATTRIBUTES IS IN PROPORTION TO OUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THEIR PRESENCE, VALUE, AND OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR PURPOSE IN OUR LIFE EXPERIENCE.

The 22 attributes listed that make up our C.A.S.T. may not be identities as we perceive our adult self to be, or as the world perceives an identity to be, but they do have an identity and a purpose and therefore they are acceptable as individual components of our wholeness. By embracing this perspective we realize it is crucial to our experiential entry into oneness that we work together. Perceiving ourselves in this new light enables us to understand why declaring, I am doing The Presence Process alone and it is up to me to succeed because I am doing this processing by myself is insensitive, arrogant, and short-sighted. Who is speaking when a declaration like this is made? When we accept the diversity inherent in the expression of our presence in this world, to utter such a statement is deceptive and delusional. This is why the ego and the thinking mind initiate deceptive and deluded decisions; they cannot possible function efficiently without including all of us, just as we cannot function efficiently without including them. To depart our experience of fragmentation and become unified, every part of us requires appreciation. Appreciating ourselves is how we activate the cohesive inner experience that radiates outwardly as oneness. Self-facilitation is the art of appreciating ourselves as a collective, as our C.A.S.T., by creating an environment in which each component of our C.A.S.T. is acknowledged, nurtured, and aligned with its purpose. MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL Applying this self-facilitation approach to our life experience in a practical way requires a mirror. Mirror-work empowers us to wield the tool of appreciation. Whenever we experience a private moment in front of a mirror, we have the opportunity to address our groupconsciousness, to speak to and for ourselves. (Of course, it is best to attend to this in private, as others may not understand the context for this experience and enter a level of discomfort in our company.) We all talk to ourselves in the mirror. The thinking mind is always in conversation. When we talk out loud to our reflection it is often under duress, uncomplimentary, and judgmental. For the purpose of self-facilitation we are encouraged to use the mirror differently, as a tool to awaken an experience of unity within ourselves through appreciation. Talking to ourselves is healthy when we appreciate ourselves. We, the adult self, are the attribute presently representing the group. We have the ability to speak personally to the members of the group individually or collectively. We may therefore, at this point in our journey, when speaking to ourselves, use the word I without it causing separation, because when we address our group saying, I love you, we are acknowledging the members of the group as their group leader. We are speaking to them individually and collectively. We may also use the word we without feeling ridiculous, because when we contemplate the various attributes making up the expression of our presence in this world, it is obvious that the experience we are having in this world is a group effort. It is therefore acceptable to look into the mirror and say, Well done! We are doing wonderfully today. By doing so we are addressing the members of our group simultaneously, although from the experience of our individual attributes, they feel as though we are addressing each one of them personally. When we are speaking to ourselves in the mirror, we are not only talking to the physical appearance being reflected, but to the various dimensions of our presence gazing

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back at us through our eyes, as well as those resonating with our words through feltperception. We are therefore to ensure we look directly into our eyes when speaking and that we mean what we say. When we accomplish meaningful eye-contact with ourselves, we are able to sustain meaningful eye contact with others. As the adult attribute of our group identity, it is our responsibility to use the mirrorwork to support, encourage, validate, and appreciate the members of the group, as much as it is our responsibility to call upon the individual members of our C.A.S.T. for their support, encouragement, validation, and appreciation. By actively behaving in this manner, by instilling this mirror-work into our life experience, we greatly decrease our tendency to need or want this type of input from others in the world. This diminishes the amount of drama we manifest in our life experience. ALL
OUR OUTER DRAMA IS AN ATTEMPT TO GAIN FROM THE WORLD WHAT WE ARE NOT EMOTIONALLY MATURE ENOUGH, AND THEREFORE RESPONSIBLE ENOUGH, TO GIVE TO OURSELVES. Self-facilitation is about being able to speak to and for ourselves. When we cannot give ourselves what we emotionally require in a practical and grounded way, like talking to ourselves in a mirror, we cannot give this caliber of support to anyone in our life experience. To do so without first doing unto ourselves is to fake it; we cannot give away what we do not have. When we can look into the mirror and say, I love you. Thank you for the assistance with our breathing practice today, we are acknowledging the roles each of our inner attributes play in our daily breathing activities, enabling each to feel as though they have a purpose and are fulfilling their purpose. As we become familiar with the part each attribute plays in the whole, we may extend our appreciation towards ourselves for this too. The consequence of mirror work is an increasing sense of unified well-being within us and the gradual alignment of our inner attributes with our overall purpose. We also do not require a mirror to talk to ourselves in this manner. We may do so wherever we are by communicating silently within our thoughts. This adjustment in the way we perceive and behave towards ourselves applied through the use of our self-speak and the application of mirror-work is a significant step towards authentic self-facilitation. By embracing and therefore becoming our own Compassionate Attention Support Team, we fill emotional cavities in our life experience. By including our wide range of attributes into our daily life experience we no longer feel as though there is a hole in our own heart that needs or wants filling. We lose interest in initiating and entertaining selfdestructive needy and wanting behaviors. Through this practical tool we learn experientially that the way to stop hurting ourselves is to love, support, acknowledge, and appreciate ourselves. Wield this self-facilitation tool right NOW by approaching the mirror and saying:

HELLO

BEAUTIFUL!

TOGETHER

WE CREATE A LIFE EXPERIENCE FILLED WITH JOY, ABUNDANCE, AND HEALTH.

The power of mirror-work is inherent in realizing that the individual attributes representing the different dimensions of our life experience do not perceive us as the limited adult personality we assume ourselves to be; they perceive us as their God, or as their parent-figure. It is recommended we ask ourselves the following questions: Are we a dictator, or a benevolent God to ourselves? Are we a loving parent, or do we behave in a neglectful manner? Are we fun-loving and playful towards ourselves, or are we serious and wrathful?

Mirror-work empowers us to address the answers to these questions practically. We are answering these questions anyway whenever in front of a mirror. Whatever we say, think, or do while in front of a mirror is broadcast in a magnified way to all the attributes in our group. Our C.A.S.T. behaves accordingly. When we do not take full responsibility for the health and well-being of our C.A.S.T., their fate is placed in the hands of our ego and thinking mind. By attributing everything we accomplish to the power of us, to we, our egoic identity and our thinking mind are swept along by the flow of this perceptual unity and

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gradually transform into their destiny. The talent of the ego is its ability to drive us forward unceasingly; its destiny is our determination. The talent of the thinking mind is its ability to navigate our journey unshakably; its destiny is our focus. Our task, when intending to transform into an integrated adult, is to invite these two attributes to embrace their fullest potential. We accomplish this through our active guidance and example, through our determination to and focus on improving our inner well-being as we move through our outer life experience. By being determined to embrace emotional maturity, by focusing on responsibly self-facilitating ourselves, we set the pace and the direction for our horses, ensure the comfort in our cart, and select a road leading into the heart of the matter; present moment awareness. INWARD
AND UPWARD WE GOALL OF US!

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PART II: THE PRESENCE PROCESS A BRIEF RECAP

1. What is The Presence Process? The Presence Process is a self-facilitated, step by step procedure, empowering us to restore balance to the quality of our life experience. It initiates a journey into present moment awareness; a state of being in which we make choices based on what is happening right now, and not on our unresolved experiences of the past, or what we fearfully believe about the future. By entering The Presence Process experientially we become aware to what extent we are living in a time-based paradigm, and in the same breath, are instructed how to overcome this predicament. We evolve our perception from reactionary to responsive, enabling us to discontinue behaviors that cause our awareness to become distracted by experiences no longer or not yet in play. All our emotional, mental, and physical discomforts arising within this present life experience are effects of unresolved experiences that occurred in time. As we intentionally move our attention into the present moment these unresolved experiences surface, unravel, and come to resolution. In The Presence Process this procedure is called integration. Integration is like digestion. The Presence Process therefore enables us to digest our unresolved past, neutralize our fearfully projected future, and free our awareness to be available here and now. The Presence Process is an opportunity to take an honest look at our circumstances with intent to transform what we think is our lot in life into a whole lot of Life. Through it we use the world as a mirror to perceive what we hide from ourselves. We are shown that what in time appear as issues are valuable experiences offering up wisdom in the present moment. The Presence Process instructs us how to fertilize our life experience with authentic joy, abundance, and health by accessing the wisdom from these experiences. 2. How does The Presence Process work? The power of The Presence Process is that it enables adjustments to be made at the causal point of our experiences. In The Presence Process terminology, we work in harmony with The Pathway of Awareness (TPP/Pg 40). This is the energetic pathway our awareness travels along as we enter our experience of the world. This pathway is easily identified by observing a childs initial development; first a child cries, then talks, then walks, in this deliberate order. The Pathway of Awareness is therefore from the emotional to mental to physical. This does not mean our emotional body is more or less superior to our mental or physical body, or that it develops first; it means that as we birth our awareness is primarily emotional, and therefore the emotional body is the causal point of the quality of our experiences while we are in this world. We may also observe The Pathway of Awareness in The Seven Year Cycle (TPP/Pg 42). The first seven years of our life are predominantly emotional. This period of development is called childhood. During the next seven years we enter school and immerse ourselves in predominantly mental activities, like reading and writing. During this stage of our development we are called young boys and girls. At 14 we commence another seven year period, as teenagers, in which our focus is more physically orientated. We become interested in our sexuality and gravitate towards activities preparing us to take up our physical place in the world. When we turn 21 we are considered young adults. Through these three seven year cycles we again perceive an unfolding pathway moving from emotional to mental to physical. Our journey through The Presence Process reveals that while we operate in a timebased paradigm, the physical world and our experience of it is not the causal point of anything; it is an ongoing effect of emotionally imprinted experiences initiated during our initial seven years of childhood. This procedure therefore enables us to understand that when we seek to adjust the quality of our experiences in this world, these adjustments must be of an emotional content to be permanent. When we stand back from our life experience and

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observe it objectively, it is clear that its quality is sourced from how we feel and not what we think of it. This tells us that initiating real adjustments to the quality of any experience we are having requires action that impacts our emotional content. It is a challenge to adjusting the emotional content of our behavior. This is because the causal experiences that initiate our present discomforts occur well before we develop the mental perceptual abilities now dominating our adult way of interacting with ourselves and our world. Because we primarily interact with everything mentally, it is a challenge for our awareness to enter our emotional body. Since departing childhood we trained ourselves to suppress our emotional awareness. When we reach a certain point in our development and realize the necessity to evolve emotionally, this self-suppressive approach towards our emotional awareness is to be overcome. It is then necessary to regain conscious access to our emotional body. This is imperative because the records of the experiences initially seeding the discomforts we encounter in our life right now are not stored mentally, but energetically, as feelings. To enable our awareness to revisit these causal points with intent to restore balance through activating emotional growth, it is necessary to move against the grain of our behavioral reflexes, to become vulnerable to our suppressed inner feelings, and to accomplish this without turning these feelings into mental concepts or outer physical dramatizations. The mental body navigates us in the right direction by assisting us to comprehend the task ahead. Yet it cannot do more than this. Understanding is necessary, but plays only a transitional role in healing. Understanding is like a diving board; we use it to spring into action, but we must leave it to enter the water. At some point we abort our mental preoccupation with our unbalanced experiences, enabling us to restore balance to them through feeling. Feeling, not understanding, restores balance to the quality of our life experience. To accomplish this task, The Presence Process initiates a journey enabling us to reverse The Pathway of Awareness we initially traveled along to enter our present experiences. We initiate physical presence, then mental clarity, then emotional balance. This leads us into an increasing experience of inner calm and outer harmony. The Presence Process accomplishes this using a simple breathing technique, a procedure of mental repetition called Presence Activation Statements, reading materials designed to activate present moment awareness, and perceptual tools that facilitate integration and the unraveling of our reactive behavior. We also partake in water sessions that enable our awareness to exit our habitual mental preoccupations so we can initiate emotional body cleansing. THE PRESENCE PROCESS trains us to facilitate ourselves through this experience by developing a relationship with our Inner Presence; that part of ourselves that is present through all our experiences, yet unchanged by any of them. It empowers us by placing healing into our own hands. By reading the book we become conscious in an irreversible way; we are awakened to the extent that it is uncomfortable for us to return to our unconscious time-based sleep-state. 3. Is it safe to practice consciously connected facilitation? breathing without

Yes. When exploring procedures like Rebirthing, Breath Work, or Pranayama Yoga, personal facilitation is essential. These procedures take us into realms of physical, mental, emotional, and vibrational experiences that are unfamiliar and hence challenging for us. Without personal guidance, experiences initiated by these techniques cause fear and confusion. Although there may be a resemblance to these breathing techniques, The Presence Process is not aligned with them. Rebirthing, Breath Work, and Pranayama Yoga require breath-control, while The Presence Process calls for natural breathing (TPP/Pg 134). Instead of initiating any form of breath-control, we are instructed to release our control over our breathing. The way we breathe in The Presence Process is no different from the way other creatures upon this planet breathe; without pausing. Also, the duration of the breathing sessions as instructed by the book are not long enough for us to enter intensive processing. The consequence of any technique that uses breathing is determined by the intent steering it. The breath functions as a magnifying glass through which this intent is magnified. In the text of the book, prior to experientially entering The Presence Process, our intention is

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aligned so that we know why we are breathing, how to breathe, and what outcome we seek. In this way the Process remains safe, gentle, and well within our ability to responsibly facilitate ourselves. 4. Why should we do The Presence Process? As many reasons for entering into this Process exist as there are those of us that choose to. Some of these are: We are curios. We are choosing to grow up emotionally. We are aware of going around in circles and getting nowhere. Our life experience is uncomfortable and nobody can relieve us of this discomfort, and we suspect nobody but us can. We are exploring the potentials of our humanity. The prospect of activating present moment awareness fascinates. Emotional, mental, or physical symptoms are unbalancing the quality of our life experience.

Through the work of teachers like Eckhart Tolle many of us are now familiar with the possibility of entering the heightened state of being called THE NOW. Consequently, we are attracted to The Presence Process because it offers us a methodical, step by step approach for accumulating and maintaining this state of awareness. We do not require a reason for entering The Presence Process; it is enough to intuitively resonate with it. There is also no should involved; no one should do this Process. The pull must come from within to access the will to complete it. 5. Can anyone do it? No. As far as physical requirements are concerned, yes. Anyone who is able to breathe can do the breathing technique. As far as the mental requirements are concerned, no. This is because there is a large body of reading material to digest. For this reason the Process is not recommended for children below the age of 14. This is a recommendation, not a rule. As there are 13-year-olds who understand the text, there are adults among us who are initially challenged by it. Emotionally, not everyone may be ready for this experience either. When we speak of emotional requirements, we are not referring to being old enough, as in our physical age, but to being mature enough, as in our level of personal responsibility. Entering The Presence Process requires a degree of personal responsibility. Many of us accomplish challenging tasks when driven by outside influences, but discover it is difficult to accomplish anything significant when required to tap into our own self-determined will. Only we know if we contain the maturity and discipline to follow the instructions of the Process for 77 days without throwing in the towel. Accessibility is therefore not well-defined. We know when we are ready. It is not possible for anyone to decide for us. Nor is it possible to judge whether another is ready or not. The only way to really know is to metaphorically take our head off and dive in heart first. The rule of thumb is: Anyone entering the Process willing to stand in a place of not knowing is blessed. This is a clue.

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PART III: QUESTIONS ASKED BEFORE ENTERING THE PRESENCE PROCESS

1. Are any specific preparations necessary before starting? Yes. We must read the text in the book before the Process commences, and commit to set aside time daily in which to complete the requirements of each session. This entails one to two hours reading a week, and 15 minutes consciously connected breathing at the beginning and end of each day. No other specific physical, mental, or emotional preparations are required. The Presence Process customizes itself to fit each individual. It draws off the texture of our individual life experience to excavate the wisdom we require to participate in the Process. This experience manifests in our life because of the questions we ask, at a juncture in our experience when we are open and ready to receive specific answers. Accordingly, our life experience prepares us perfectly for this journey. 2. Will The Presence Process interfere with our daily routines?

No, not as long as we make certain commitments to ourselves and stick to them no matter what. The Presence Process does not add much in the way of outer activity to our life, but it does add awareness. We are already breathing; it asks us to bring awareness to our breathing. We are already thinking; it asks us to bring awareness to our thoughts, and to entertain thoughts serving us. We are already reading; it asks us to spend time reading materials activating present moment awareness. We are already seeing the outer world in a particular way; it asks us to initiate some inner adjustments enabling us to perceive the outer world in a more authentic way, in a way serving us. The Presence Process does not interfere with our daily routines. However, if we enter it, and then resist the challenge of becoming present and the conscious input required to accomplish this, we may perceive it as interference. 3. If our life experience is particularly challenging at the moment, will this Process add more difficulty? Yes and no. Yes, because we are agreeing to become aware of the suppressed emotions we spend our whole life sedating or controlling. Most of us living in the modern or civilized world hardly experience any emotional body awareness. We use our emotional body for the display of drama, to gain attention, acknowledgement, and sympathy. Drama does not require emotional body awareness; drama is the dysfunctional externalization of our emotional body. Drama is emotional unconsciousness. We are masters at hiding our real emotional condition. We opt for pretence. Energetically we align ourselves with saying no when we mean yes, and vice versa. By entering The Presence Process we agree to undergo a procedure that invites our suppressed emotions to surface into our awareness. We are given a simple but powerful breathing practice that, by assisting us to accumulate present moment awareness, empowers

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us to awaken to our time-based issues. Under normal circumstances we do not voluntarily allow our fear, anger, and grief to surface. We master keeping them suppressed because they are uncomfortable to us, because they scare us, and because we know no way to achieve resolution. Throughout The Presence Process, as these suppressed emotions surface, we are instructed how to integrate them; to digest them in a way that enhances our life experience with personal revelation. Our awareness of them restores balance. So yes, on one level, when we enter The Presence Process our life experience appears to become more challenging. This is in itself an illusion because nothing is added to our plate; we are becoming conscious of what we are already juggling 24 hours a day. Our situation is not worsening; we are becoming more conscious of it. Right from the outset this increase in our awareness contains beneficial side-effects. We are less likely to be drawn into the dramas around us and we become more present with our daily tasks. Therefore, initially, the answer to this question is yes; we may perceive our life experience as a little more challenging, but when we understand why facing these challenges is necessary, and then experience the benefits of overcoming them, we perceive these so-called challenges in a whole new light; they become the gems of our emotional growth. This is why THE PRESENCE PROCESS instructs us to enter this journey without intending it be easy or feel good. It is more advantageous to enter without expectations. 4. If we have already participated in healing workshops, and sometimes felt overwhelmed by them afterwards, how is this experience going to be any different? One of the disadvantages of attending weekend workshops is they are compressed experiences. Pre-processing or post-processing facilities are seldom attached to them. Consequently, they resonate at a frequency of unnatural intensity. The structure of The Presence Process is designed to avoid this predicament; it is a gradual flow containing preprocessing, an experiential journey, and post-processing. The experiential session-by-session part of the Process gives us plenty of room to breathe; it unfolds over a period of 77 days, with 7 full days of space and time between each intended shift in awareness. Weekend workshops cannot supply us with the time and space to gather the authentic life experiences in which to integrate all the information and insights possible for us to receive in two days. When we submit ourselves to information and procedures that intend activating inner adjustments, they transform the flow of our personal energy systems. When we have not moved through the relevant life experiences enabling us to integrate these adjustments, we feel overwhelmed by the sudden changes in our personal energy flow. A weekend workshop is a pointer, not an authentic life experience. By its nature, a workshop environment is not an authentic slice of our regular life; it is a manufactured moment intended to demonstrate something out of our regular field of activity, and in comparison with our regular routines, is usually out of context. The test is: Are we able to integrate what we received on the weekend into our experiences that unfold from Monday to Friday? If not, they are not serving us. Because of the lack of support and guidance before and after workshops, they often cause more disorientation than real assistance, especially when the workshops are facilitated by those of us attempting to save the world over weekends, or when they are attended by those of us attempting to be saved from the world over a weekend. The Presence Process takes all of this into account and is therefore purposely gradual and gentle in its approach; it is an energetic tapestry woven together with continual reinforcement. Hurrying to reach any specific destination is eliminated. By departing from destination-consciousness and instead embracing journey-consciousness, the pressures of accomplishment and of attaining specific points of arrival are eliminated. The Presence Process is tailored to meet us at our present level of awareness, and lead us onward from there. It empowers us to initiate a pace of integration that works for us. It also keeps us thoroughly informed along each step of the journey, and therefore keeps our overall intent crystal clear, eliminating unnecessary confusion. Yes, as we journey through The Presence Process, we may also experience moments of feeling overwhelmed. However, by faithfully following the instructions we feel supported by our Inner Presence within these challenging moments. Emotional body cleansing in a timebased paradigm is a challenging task.

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5. If we think we had a happy childhood, is it still necessary to enter this Process? Yes. More often than not, a happy childhood is one in which our emotional awareness is suppressed and replaced with happy mental pictures in our adult mind. This is because the state of happiness, as is understood by the adult mind, is a circumstance that is good, as opposed to one that is bad. Or, it is one that is easy, as opposed to one that is hard. For us as adults to therefore perceive our childhood as a happy one requires we at some point made an effort to push away one set of circumstances in favor of another. In our adult world therefore, when any of us professes to a happy childhood, what we are declaring is: We had a childhood in which we successfully pushed a whole range of uncomfortable experiences out of our awareness so our life appeared good and easy. As we regain emotional body awareness, the circumstances that were not easy or good, that are still influencing the quality of our life experience right now, surface. This is when we realize our story of a happy childhood is just that: A story concocted by an adult to cope with the past. Joy, in the context of present moment awareness, is not happiness. Joy absorbs experiences with equal relish. Joy is inclusive; it does not push one moment away in favor of another. We all had profound moments of joy during our childhood. However, we are unconditional beings that birthed ourselves into a conditional world. On some level our initial experiences of entering this world remain deeply traumatic for us. Until we digest the trauma caused by the conditionality of being here, it affects our ongoing circumstances in a manner causing us to feel that various aspects of our life experience are indigestible. This is what initiates the behavior of fleeing one set of circumstances in favor of another. This is what manifests an experience of duality, polarity, and exclusiveness. This is what deprives us of perceiving oneness experientially. Under these circumstances joy, and the peace inherent in it, is unattainable. None of us are exempt from the opportunity to enhance the frequency of our current circumstances by integrating our unresolved conditional experiences of the past. By choosing to digest the unresolved conditional experiences of our childhood, we transform each moment of our present life experience, enabling the present moment to become what it is: Delicious nutrition for our soul. So yes, if we now perceive our childhood as a happy one, it is recommended we enter and complete The Presence Process. 6. What is the purpose of the water sessions? The water sessions we initiate in Sessions 7, 8, and 9 of the Process cleanse our emotional body and open the way for regaining emotional body awareness. During the natural course of our life experience our physical body develops when we give it the required nutrition, and our mental body is developed when we enter any form of educational experience. Around seven years old, our emotional body awareness begins to decrease to a point that, for most of us, it shuts down altogether. In a time-based paradigm this appears to occur because emotional body awareness is not perceived as necessary in our modern world. Instead, the emotional content of our life experience is often perceived and treated as a weakness or hindrance. However, as we move beyond victim or victor mentality and enter present moment awareness, we realize this emotional transition is necessary; unless our emotional body development is inhibited, we do not embrace the necessary steps to develop our mental body capacities. To facilitate this necessary transition, the outer world sternly wags its finger at us in the classroom when we become overly emotional. It does this to quiet our energy so that we are able to concentrate on our mental development. At some point in our life experience we are given an opportunity to pick up from where our emotional body shut down. We then have a choice to reawaken and nurture this aspect of our experience. Choosing to take responsibility for our emotional content is what differentiates integrated adults from those who remain emotionally stunted. Because emotional body awareness is the source of the momentum fueling our intentions, and hence

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our movement through this world, without re-awakening and developing this attribute we become stuck; we age before our time and spend our time aging. Taking responsibility for self-facilitating our emotional growth is what THE PRESENCE PROCESS assists us to explore. Through an experiential procedure it empowers us to integrate that the causal point of our unbalanced experiences is the unconscious and hence uncomfortable state of our emotional body. It provides us with a simple step-by-step approach to re-enter, cleanse, and restore balance to it. This is where the water sessions come into play; they enable us to effectively initiate this cleansing aspect of our journey. They accomplish this by efficiently moving our awareness into our energetic realm, a place our mental concepts cannot enter. (TPP/Pg 213) Until we restore a certain amount of balance into our emotional condition, reactivating full emotional body awareness remains unobtainable. Until we undergo a certain degree of cleansing our emotional body is too uncomfortable for our awareness to re-enter. Until we are able to anchor our awareness in our emotional body we cannot authentically feel what it is to be alive. As our awareness re-enters and remains in emotional body we activate an integrated perception of our experiences in this world. To be fully encountered, to be authentic, to be chewed up, swallowed, and digested, our life experience has to be felt deeply, energetically, not just touched physically and then thought about. This fully integrated relationship with our life experience, called felt-perception, is only possible when our awareness is consciously channeled from the causal point of our experiences. Felt-perception is emotional body awareness. It is this state of felt-perception that gives meaning to the physical sensations we encounter through our body. Without felt-perception, without perceiving how our emotional body weaves an intimate energetic connection between our physical and mental body, we cannot integrate the sensory language of our physical body. This is why, while we operate in a time-based paradigm, our physical body appears to us to behave in a chaotic manner. The first step towards accomplishing integrated felt-perception is charting a pathway into our emotional body and cleansing it until it is comfortable enough for our awareness to reenter and anchor itself there. The water sessions, as we experience them in The Presence Process, serve the purpose of initiating this initial cleansing procedure. Being comfortable with our life experience and no longer seeking to change anything about it is an outer indicator that emotional body awareness has been activated. Our next task is to increase this level of awareness. The water sessions assist us to accomplish this as well, however the procedure is adjusted for this purpose. This adjustment is explained in the latter part of this book. 7. Should we stop smoking before we start? No. Smoking is an effect. It is not the cause of anything. Any habitual or addictive behavior is an effect; a physical manifestation of a dysfunctional mental thought-form stemming from discomfort in our emotional body. Nothing is accomplished by fiddling with effects. A suppressed effect is transferred elsewhere and manifests as another dysfunctional behavior pattern. This is why, when we stop smoking without resolving the emotional discomfort driving the habit, we often end up overeating and gaining weight. To give up cigarettes without resolution of the emotional discomfort that drives the behavior is like cleaning the mirror because we do not like the face we see in it. This question is an opportunity to delve deeper into the fabric of the energetic experience our present Age calls addiction. THE PRESENCE PROCESS explores one dimension of this subject (TPP/Pg 55), but now that we are setting our course for activating emotional body awareness, we are ready to deepen our insight into what addiction is on an energetic level. The more we comprehend about the energetic nature of addiction, the more empowered we are to overcome it. This exploration requires keeping an open mind and stretching the parameters of our traditional belief systems. THE PRESENCE PROCESS explains our addictive behavior; we are self-medicating, attempting to exercise control and/or sedation over the discomfort in our emotional body. This is easy to prove: When we cease our addictive behavior before accomplishing any resolution of the emotional issue/s driving it, the charge in our emotional body surfaces into our awareness, and becomes unbearable. No self-medication = increased discomfort. It is this

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feeling, this surfacing negative emotional charge, this unbearable energetic discomfort, driving us back into our habit. When we do not return to smoking, we resort to another method of self-medication. Often our fridge holds the answer to that other method. When we do not integrate our inner discomfort, we transfer our outer behavior to another means of sedation and/or control. The Presence Process does not pay attention to the actual physical habit of selfmedication because effects are drama. Time spent entertaining drama is time and energy wasted. It focuses on channeling our available time and energy into initiating causal adjustments by integrating inner emotional discomforts. The effect of these causal adjustments decreases the discomfort in our emotional body. Consequently, our medication, whether it is cigarettes, gambling, sugar, money, alcohol, food, child abuse, sex, or chemicals, releases its hold on us. To deepen our understanding about the energetic content of our addictive experience it is necessary our discussion go beyond the why? of our experience and examine the who and what? When dueling with addiction, or nursing those who are, most of our attention is on the why? of the self-medicating and almost none is placed upon understanding the parameters of the source of the supply. By source of supply we are not referring to drug dealers, doctors, or pharmacists. It is necessary to go deeper than this; we are referring to the energetic protagonists of this experience. In this world of time, the great challenge we face in dealing with our addictions is being unable to perceive our predicament from a causal perspective. An addictive state imprisons our awareness in the mental realm, in delusion, making it impossible to authentically operate from emotional body awareness. Subsequently, we cannot perceive what is energetically binding us to these addictive experiences. We mistakenly perceive the effect as the cause. We therefore assume the cause of our addiction is:

A A A

PHYSICAL SUBSTANCE; PHYSICAL BEHAVIOR; MENTAL MIND-SET;

a cigarette, or a powder, or a tablet, or a liquid, a plant substance.

gambling, sex, kleptomania, child abuse, lying.

self-depreciating beliefs, fearful thought-patterns, worrying.

These are not causes, they are all effects. These are the water boiling over, not the fire causing the heat. While operating in a time-based paradigm the closest we come to the heat, the cause, is placing our attention on the emotional content of our addiction; the discomfort arising when we do not have access to our medication. It is more accurate to say we are addicted to avoiding emotional states like depression, hopelessness, anxiety, or any of the conditions arising from the trinity of fear, anger, and grief. WE WE WE
ARE NOT ADDICTED TO A SUBSTANCE, BEHAVIOR, OR THOUGHT-PROCESS.

ARE ADDICTED TO AN OUTWARDLY INDUCED ENERGETIC SENSATION.

ARE ADDICTED TO A FEELING THAT ASSISTS US TO AVOID FEELING SOMETHING ELSE.

WE

CHASE THIS SENSATION TO MASK AN INNER ENERGETIC

By entertaining an addictive experience, we metaphorically trade in our Souls, our free will, our authenticity, for an artificial outer substitute that momentarily duplicates a specific inner feeling we perceive ourselves to lack. Accordingly, an addiction may be defined as any habitual outer behavior depriving us of an authentic inner experience. Addiction is predictable in that it always initiates predictable circumstances:

CAVITY THAT IS CAUSING A PROFOUND SENSE OF EMOTIONAL INCOMPLETION WITHIN US.

WE

CHOOSE TO ACHIEVE OUR SENSE OF COMPLETION FROM AN OUTSIDE SOURCE AND THEREFORE ENTER AN ARTIFICIAL

THAT IS BY ITS VERY NATURE UNSUSTAINABLE. It cannot be sustained because the artificially generated experience is not founded on anything real. Therefore as it began, it shall inevitably end. This is the nature of anything unreal; it is punctuated by a beginning and an ending. RELATIONSHIP

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WHEN

WE ALLOW OURSELVES TO BECOME EMOTIONALLY ATTACHED TO AN OUTER SOURCE OF EMOTIONAL SUPPORT, THE

QUALITY OF OUR LIFE EXPERIENCE IS DETERMINED BY ITS SUPPLY.

anxiety and fear.

We therefore continuously live in

FROM

THE MOMENT THIS ADDICTIVE EXPERIENCE IS INITIATED, NO MATTER HOW FULFILLING WE MAY AT FIRST PERCEIVE IT

TO BE, OUR INNER CONDITION OF INCOMPLETENESS BECOMES INCREASINGLY IMMUNE TO THE OUTER AID MOMENTARILY ALLOWING US TO ARTIFICIALLY FEEL THE BLISS OF COMPLETION.

This too is because our artificial sense of completion is not real, and therefore as it had a beginning, it inevitably ends.

BY

USING THIS ARTIFICIAL AID WE RENDER OURSELVES UNABLE TO LEARN HOW TO GIVE OURSELVES THIS EXPERIENCE OF

COMPLETION NATURALLY.

When the outer aid is removed, in place of our original feeling of emotional incompleteness, we also feel increased fragility and vulnerability. This translates into feeling helpless and hopeless. AS OUR MEDICATION REVEALS THAT IT CANNOT EMOTIONALLY COMPLETE US, WE ARE DRIVEN TO CONSUME IT IN LARGER AND LARGER DOSES, OR TO TAKE ADDITIONAL MEDICATIONS. When we do not, we feel as though the addiction consumes us. We feel as if it possesses to the point that we cannot ever get enough.

Once we arrive at this level of the experience, and then attempt to extricate ourselves from it, it becomes apparent that we have become helpless prey in the grips of an energetic experience that is parasitic. To those not having been through this caliber of substance addiction, or who have not been personally exposed to an individual going through the clutches of one, the experience of being in the grips of a parasitic energy may sound fanciful. It is not. ALL
ADDICTION INVOLVES PARASITIC ENERGETIC PROTAGONISTS THAT SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGE THIS BEHAVIORAL DYSFUNCTION.

Parasitic presences enter our energy systems through our initial use of the addictive substance. They are souls like us, souls with no access to a physical body who cannot enter their own authentic experience of this physical, mental, and emotional world. They are energetic voyeurs. In this dimension there are many more of them than those who have physical bodies. When we live in a time-based paradigm we are very selective in what we are prepared to entertain as a possibility. It is easy for us to entertain the possibility of spirit guides and guardian angels; discarnate presences in our field that practice non-interference and have our best interest at heart. Yet, it is uncomfortable for us to entertain the possibility that not all discarnate presences in our field exhibit an impeccable intent. AS ABOVE, SO BELOW. AS BELOW, SO ABOVE. AS OUT, SO IN. AS IN, SO OUT. The interaction between people in this world reveals the presence of individuals whose behavior demonstrates no conscience or moral compass. What of the realms unseen? Our selective mind conveniently eradicates the possibility that, as we are amongst angels, so too are we living in the midst of disincarnate beings of ill-intent. Our awakening to the presence of this predicament, without fear or polarization of our consciousness, is crucial in understanding addiction and equipping ourselves to overcome it. One of the reasons we operate in this selective manner is because unconsciously we know we are susceptible to entertaining these presences in our midst. OUR
SUSCEPTIBILITY TO HOSTING PARASITIC PRESENCES IS DETERMINED BY THE QUALITY OF OUR PERSONAL INTEGRITY.

It is our lack of personal integrity that opens the door to entertaining dysfunctional energetic presences. Within this realization is the clue as to why they exist within creation at all.

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Energetic presences seeking physical, mental, and emotional encounters through us accomplish this whenever we open ourselves to circumstances that jeopardize the integrity of our energetic systems. Whenever we open our energetic systems artificially, which is what addictive and mind-altering substances do, parasitic presences take the opportunity created by our self-initiated vulnerability to enter and anchor into our field. When our integrity is not impeccable, there is nothing to stop them. Their intention for hijacking us energetically is to experience base urges, and the extent to which we still entertain base urges enables them to hook into and keep feeding through us. Base urges are the echoing resonance of the animalistic behavior traits we bring with us into our human experience from our animal incarnations. None of our souls transmigrate from our animal incarnations and instantly become impeccable human beings. We initially bring lower chakra impulses with us, like: Feeding on the flesh of others. Mating for pleasure-gratification. Reacting forcefully to any possibility of perceived opposition. Eating to feel full. Stealing others belongings. Living and hunting in packs. Attacking any infringement of personal space. Defending our group and fighting for supremacy.

It is easy to see these behavioral traits still dominate large portions of the human population. It takes lifetimes to evolve beyond these lower mind attributes into higher mind qualities like sharing, defenselessness, kindness, intimacy, compassion, responsibility, containment, and discernment. Because these parasitic presences are not concerned about integrity, because many of them are recently deceased animals, the ride they take our vehicles on is not in our best interest if we seek to evolve. They mislead us into returning back to our animal urges. This is why addictive behavior is coated in an aura of extreme selfishness. With no access to a physical body, these parasitic presences experience no sensual encounter with this world, which is what they ultimately seek. They hunger. Much of the chaos they lead us into therefore entails sensual over-gratification. This is why those of us experiencing addiction are driven into pursuits like gambling, high-anxiety pastimes, criminal behavior, consumption of substances, and sexual debauchery. Once they enter and reside within our energetic fields, these parasitic presences function through us physically, mentally, and emotionally like an uninvited driver at the wheel of our car. This is why, while in the midst of an addictive experience, especially when attempting to overcome it, the individual hosting these presences cannot be trusted; we do not know who we are speaking to. We only know who is energetically holding the reigns of the vehicle before us when we are able to engage with them from a point of emotional body awareness. Because these presences are of astral and sub-astral origin, which is the emotional realm and different levels of it, and also the causal point of our experiences in this world, they are able to know more about us when they are confronting us than we may know about ourselves. They have access to the causal point of our present experiences. This is why an individual in the midst of an addictive experience is able to manipulate us where and when we are at our most vulnerable. This uncanny, supernatural behavior is evidence we are not dealing with the legal resident of the human vehicle before us. Like illegal squatters, these parasitic presences tell whoever comes to the door what is required to maintain their residence and deter interference.

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Everything physical in this world also contains a mental and emotional component. We perceive all our experience of this world this way when we activate emotional body awareness. We then realize that cigarettes, alcohol, and other addictive substances, are deliberate energetic snares set in the physical world to entrap incarnating souls. These snares are loaded with seductive bait; an energetic resonance appearing to ease the trauma caused when a conditional being enters an unconditional experience. They appear to provide the missing sense of energetic unconditionality. They offer a false sense of completeness. The moment we open ourselves to experiencing the energetic effects of ingesting these substances we artificially open our energy fields, our emotional bodies, and become hijacked by these disincarnate astral presences. They sabotage our path towards accomplishing emotional growth by appearing to give us what we come into this life experience to learn to give ourselves. In recent history this experience of energetic entrapment was named possession. Religious and Shamanic practitioners have discovered that one way to free our soul of this predicament is to bring someone into our energy field radiating impeccable integrity. The disincarnate presence, though putting up a fight, cannot remain for long within the resonance of impeccable integrity. This practice became known as exorcism. Beings of impeccable integrity cast out parasitic presences by radiating the resonance of their Inner Presence. They metaphorically turn sinners into saints. It is advisable in this day and Age to stand clear of romantic religious vocabulary like possession and exorcism, because it is misleading. The point of making these religious references now, in this context, is to assist us to comprehend that what was called possession in the recent history is now called addiction. Today, as in our recent history, overcoming these parasitic experiences requires a sustained stance of absolute inner purity, of impeccable integrity. We accomplish this by achieving impeccable integrity within ourselves. We can also accomplish this by entering the radiance of a human being of absolute impeccable integrity. We no longer call this outer assistance exorcism, today it is called facilitation. This level of facilitation is discussed in detail later in the book. When we function as beings hypnotized by our past experiences, and therefore transfixed by the physical world and mentally distracted by our illusory thought-patterns, equating addiction with possession sounds nonsensical. This is because, like religious rhetoric, the deluge of Hollywood special-effects places common sense energetic occurrences into the realm of the fanciful, inconceivable, and improbable. We are therefore able to stomach the possibility of possession and exorcism as entertainment, or in our religious history, but not in our homes, not NOW. This is only because we cannot yet recognize it. It remains hidden from us until we are empowered with the tools to energetically transform ourselves beyond the confines of this predicament. This moment is NOW. Any of us who have experienced addiction, and who managed to overcome the encounter completely, have witnessed the psychic duel to restore our own inner freedom take on demonic and supernatural proportions. These experiences are not only the lot of someone attempting to quit a substance like heroin, cocaine, and most recently manifest from the astral hell, crystal meth, but also of anyone attempting to free themselves of alcohol and cigarettes. As much a variety of parasitic presences exist as there are calibers of base urges amongst humans. For each empty energetic cavity in the human heart there is a substance or behavior to ensnare, seduce, and possess. When, in our attempts to overcome this energetic rite of passage, we enter the support-group level of recovery, the reality of the predicament known as possession may not be evident to us. By labeling ourselves recovering addicts we are willing to believe we are born faulty, that our addiction is a chemical-disposition, and we are therefore broken for life. When we are in recovery, the parasitic presences within us are waiting, ready to pounce at the slightest opportunity. To them there is no time as we experience it here. They may wait for 60 years when needs be. 60 years of our time for them feels like five minutes of our time to us. We may not be aware we are under siege, we may not contain the vocabulary to explain this experience to ourselves, yet we know on some level they are waiting because their disturbing resonances are evident within our own simmering feelings of quiet desperation. We keep them hidden and quiet within us by feeding them through other addictive behaviors. When we are not smoking cigarettes anymore, we eat more. When we are not shooting up heroine, we swallow pain killers. When we are not drinking alcohol, we take anti-depressants. Despite our stage of recovery, our authenticity is still in their hands.

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Our life experience is not steered by our integrity or any semblance of self-determined will; it is steered by denial, delusion, and desperation. When we do sincerely intend taking back our vehicle from them, and it is often them, as in there being more than one discarnate presence within us, we must go into battle; a battle for our soul. Only when we overcome a long-standing addiction to the point that these addictive substances or circumstances may be around us and we feel no attraction to them whatsoever have we gone through this battle and made it to the other side. It is during this battle for our soul that we realize how proficiently these parasitic presences ambush and sabotage us by causing others to coincidently appear with our medication in the moment we are our weakest and most vulnerable. It is in the battle that we witness the undeniable supernatural quality to our addictive experience. Then it dawns on us that we are up against more than a packet of cigarettes or a bottle of alcohol. Successfully overcoming the experience of parasitic possession is only possible when we can, through repeated rallies and defeats, recognize the difference between our authentic presence and the foreign influence hijacking our behavior. We accomplish this by starving the parasitic presence of what it wants and then watching its behavior as it comes to the fore to fight for its necessary nutrition. We then feed it again and watch how it lets down its guard and allows us room to breathe. In this manner we stalk it so that we may recognize it. By being able to recognize it we separate its presence from ours. THE
ONLY WAY TO OVERCOME ADDICTION IS TO LOVE THE INNER BATTLE.

We only have the capacity to overcome when we can stand in the midst of our physical, mental, and, emotional symptoms of withdrawal and metaphorically shout, Is this all youve got? Is this your best shot? You better try harder than that! Come on, hit me with everything youve got, because I can take it and more! Only when we can stand up for ourselves despite energetically feeling as if we are being ripped to shreds from limb to limb do we overcome. We do experience moments that feel like this. In the midst of these moments these parasitic presences attempt to convince us we are dying, and that our only hope is to surrender to our addiction. Yet they cannot kill us, but our addiction can. When we retreat from this projected fear into the embrace of the addictive substance or circumstance, we do not give ourselves an opportunity to realize the bluff that is being called. It is only by moving through the fear that the impotence of these projections is revealed. We overcome addiction only when we allow ourselves the opportunity, by facing our predicament, to discover that there is nothing outside of us more powerful and pure than our Inner Presence. Because these parasitic presences reside in our house for long periods, it is necessary for us to prepare for the possibility that when we do evict them, we feel a sense of emptiness within us, like losing a longtime friend. Unless we develop the emotional maturity to become the companion we previously sought through them, to complete ourselves ourselves, we remain susceptible to going in search of their company again. They are seldom far away. This world is their playground too. The ability to stand our ground and do battle to reclaim our physical presence, mental clarity, and emotional authenticity, is the place in our addictive experience The Presence Process delivers us into. Once enough of our negative emotional charge is neutralized, the parasitic presence within us no longer has leverage over us. When we keep chipping away at our negative emotional charge, like we do when chopping away at a large tree trunk with an axe, we arrive at a point where our own inner momentum surges forth and cuts the hold of any parasitic experience. The tree falls and nothing can stop it. We know the exact moment this parasitic presence departs: In that instant we can no longer conceive of wanting to ingest the physical substance or to adopt the behavioral trait we once felt we could not live without. It is crucial we know what we are up against when intending to liberate ourselves from any experience of substance or behavioral addiction. This is our mythological battle between good and evil, one that takes place and is won within us. It is as much a battle between good and evil as it is an evolutionary rite of passage towards integrity, authenticity, and impeccable personal responsibility. In a time-based paradigm, in a victor and victim mentality, it appears as if we are being attacked by some entity, yet as we enter present moment awareness, we realize this is an experience we agreed to move through. We agreed to enter a relationship with this parasitic presence as a means to experientially integrate that:

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Power is only authentic when it comes from within us. We are the only one who can attend to our sense of emotional incompleteness. We are the only one who can stand up for ourselves.

These parasitic relationships are part of our sacred contract and our divine destiny. A good metaphor is training in the art of swordsmanship: When aspiring to be proficient with a sword there is much training we can initiate by our own efforts, and there is also much we also accomplish through personal instruction. Yet, until we have a worthy opponent to duel with, we do not know the true extent of our abilities. Although our battle with these parasitic presences occur with substances and behaviors we perceive as physical and as coming from or occurring outside of us, it is always an experience unfolding within us. It is set up in this way, as an inner rite of passage, because we cannot hide our weaknesses from these inner messengers. By residing within us, by being connected with the causal point of our experiences in this world, they are able to perceive the very core of our weaknesses, and they prey on our weaknesses until we manifest the will to transform each and every one of them into strengths. As such, all addictions come to liberate us. WE
MAY BE ABLE TO HIDE OUR WEAKNESSES FROM THOSE WHO FREQUENT OUR OUTER WORLD, BUT NOT FROM THE ENERGETIC INSTIGATORS OF OUR ADDICTIONS .

In this way, only when we master turning our inner weaknesses into the potential strengths that they are, do we overcome them. These parasitic presences then leave us and take up residence elsewhere in another host who still seeks to learn about personal will, responsibility, integrity, and where it is necessary for us to tap into our authentic power. Once the sound of our inner battle quiets and we view this unfolding play from the perspective of present moment awareness, we place our hands together and bow in gratitude to these astral counterparts for assisting us to discover what we had not yet discovered about ourselves. Accordingly, they function as our spirit guides, as are our dark angels; our hells angels. There may be those of us who cannot help sitting in judgement of others who are going through addictive experiences. We may think of them as weak. Or, we may wonder why we are untouched by addiction. We are all touched by it. Our predicament in this physical, mental, and emotional world is this: To incarnate here is to be addicted. We are all addicted. Being possessed by this world is necessary for us to remain here, and to remain here it is necessary to be possessed by this world. Just as the word possession transformed into the word addiction, so to, as we evolve emotionally, we realize there is no difference between the words addiction and attachment. We, as evolving beings, are still in this world because we are attached to it, addicted to it, and therefore possessed by it. Our conscious and unconscious attachment to the people and places, to the experiences and behaviors forming our current life experience, keep bringing us back here. We keep returning to this physicalized experience because this world matters to us. We are addicted to transforming our perception of endlessly flowing luminous and vibrationally resonating energy into static, dense, solid matter. Even perfect saints who enter this world to be an example of detachment from and evolution beyond it entertain at least one attachment to remain here. This is necessary because their love for God is so all-encompassing, that if they do not attach to some aspect of this world, they immediately depart and merge into God. Their attachment is deliberate; a tool enabling them to be here so that they can show us what impeccability is. They often use a creative pursuit to attach themselves here so that their attachment provides joy and benefit to others. The caliber of our attachments is different; ours are mostly unconscious, often selfdestructive, and unsocial. Yet our attachments also serve as a tool to keep us here until our love for God outweighs everything else in our life experience. Out of ignorance, and in defense of our predicament, we erroneously isolate certain behaviors and most forms of substance abuse and place them in solitary confinement as experiences entertained by undesirables. Again, this is because of our propensity to be selective in our perception. Selectivity blinds us to the authentic condition of our own predicament. By being in this world right now we are in the midst of a powerfully addictive experience. We are addicted to operating in a time-based paradigm, to T.V., sugar, electricity,

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cooked food, artificial warmth in winter, and air conditioned air in summer. We are addicted to living in debt, to driving a new car, to shopping, and to the presence of our technological gadgetry. And these are only what are visible on the surface of our experience. What of our addiction to our families, friends, pets, social groups, careers, lifestyles, countries, religions, and political organizations? What of the mental belief systems and emotional currents flowing beneath of these outer addictions? Each possession we attach to possesses us. We are a species possessed. Therefore, let us not sit in judgement of others or ourselves. Let us rather place our attention on the next step in our evolution beyond attachment. Behind each of our weaknesses awaits a new level of inner strength. Releasing ourselves of a substance abuse or behavioral addiction is the beginning of learning how to give ourselves what we are dependent on getting from the outside world. With all of this in mind, let us return to the question that initiated this discussion. The answer is that it is unnecessary to cease an addiction to commence The Presence Process. Instead, it is recommended we focus our energy on fulfilling the requirements of the Process to the best of our ability. When we are nursing a substance or behavioral addiction, the requirements of the Process are enough to keep us occupied. Stopping an addiction like smoking before making sufficient adjustments to the emotional body causes us to become overwhelmed, to move into resistance, and to re-enter a more powerful relationship with our addictive substance and the energies they represent. The Presence Process is about gentleness, being realistic, and therefore adopting a gradual integrated approach to this energetic predicament. It is not about adding more suffering to our circumstances. We have already punished ourselves enough because of our misinterpretations. No hurrying is necessary. Above all else we are asked to intend a compassionate journey for ourselves. When we do not require our medication anymore, we do not take it. Our task is to encourage and comfort ourselves, and to do so from a perspective engaging common sense. If we have entertained an addictive experience for a long time, we are not able to cease this behavior outright the moment we decide to. ENERGETICALLY,
WE CANNOT STOP ANYTHING; WE TRANSFORM IT INTO SOMETHING ELSE. OUR ADDICTIVE EXPERIENCE INTO?

WHAT

ARE WE INTENDING TO TRANSFORM

We like to think we can overcome our addictive rite of passage purely because we need or want to, but this is unlikely. It is more likely that we go through stages of overcoming it, and then of being overcome by it. There is an ebb and flow in any inner battle. To be victorious we first learn to love the battle, to advance with precision and alertness. We enter the field of play expecting to feel waves of great hope and release as we rise above certain skirmishes, and also to feel overwhelmed by feelings of hopelessness and helplessness when we fall prey to our own weaknesses. What counts are not our moments of failing and falling, but our intent to keep picking ourselves up. The strength we acquire from picking ourselves up is the source of the power and grace that keeps us standing upright. Once we can metaphorically stand up for ourselves again, we easily carry ourselves beyond the confines of what once appeared hopeless. By this sensible approach we overcome our obstacles and are able to look back upon this leg of our evolution with the deepest of gratitude.
RESIDING IN OUR ENERGY FIELD.

THE

BEHAVIORAL TRAIT CALLED ADDICTION OR ATTACHMENT IS THE SHADOW CAST BY AN INVISIBLE, DISCARNATE PRESENCE

BECAUSE

IT IS ASTRAL OR SUB-ASTRAL, IT REMAINS UNSEEN BY US WHILE OUR ATTENTION IS

TRANSFIXED BY THE PHYSICAL WORLD AND MENTALLY DISTRACTED BY THE STATE OF BEING CALLED CONTRADICT WHAT WE INWARDLY INTEND FOR OURSELVES.

THE ACTIVITY OF THIS PARASITIC PRESENCE BY WITNESSING ANY AND ALL SELF-DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOR APPEARING TO OUTWARDLY ARE WE CERTAIN OUR ENERGETIC SYSTEMS ARE NO LONGER HIJACKED.

LIVING

IN TIME.

WE

OBSERVE

ONLY

WHEN OUR INNER INTENTIONS AND OUTER ACTIONS ARE ALIGNED,

AS

WE APPROACH THE STATE OF BEING CALLED EMOTIONAL

BODY AWARENESS, WE BECOME AWARE OF HARBORING THESE PARASITIC PRESENCES. PASSAGE OF ANY SOUL INTENDING TO ENTER

OVERCOMING

THEIR DESTRUCTIVE URGES AND

EVICTING THEM FROM OUR ENERGY FIELD THROUGH THE FREQUENCY OF RESPONSIBILITY AND IMPECCABLE INTEGRITY IS THE RITE OF

100%

PRESENT MOMENT AWARENESS.

8. What healing modalities facilitate and support Presence Process?

our journey through The

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Swedish massage is recommended as a primary modality of support because it is soft and gentle. We are not to invade our body in any way with deep-tissue procedures while we move through this Process. Throughout The Presence Process we require gentle support systems that restore physical presence, calm us mentally, soothe us emotionally, and assist us with the procedure of overall detoxification. Receiving a full-body massage is beneficial during the weeks of Session 7, 8, and 9. It is recommended we seek out a practitioner who loves their art, as opposed to one who is trained in club-rub; the procedure of getting someone in and out in 58 minutes so the table is vacated in time for the next body. Club-rub may leave the body, heart, and mind feeling worse than if no massage is received at all. As far as supporting The Presence Process with other modalities or activities, a golden rule is: Less is more (TPP/Pg 50). For the duration of the experiential part of the journey it is recommended we do not participate in activities that overload our plate in any way. We are, however, encouraged to remain open to being intuitively guided towards modalities complimenting our journey. No definite rules exist, only recommendations. We are therefore encouraged to be discerning.

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PART IV: QUESTIONS ASKED DURING THE PRESENCE PROCESS

1. What can we do if, since entering The Presence Process we start feeling irritated for no reason at all? What can we do to control this? The use of the word control is significant. As we move through this Process we start experiencing feelings we are not aware of, or have not felt for some time. Our predicament is that we are not starting to become irritated, or grumpy, or depressed; on some level, since departing childhood, we carry these feelings hidden within us. Although it feels as though these experiences are now arising as a consequence of entering the Process, this is not the case at all; we are now becoming conscious of the past emotional conditions we suppressed. By entering The Presence Process we are intending suppressed emotional conditions from the past to surface into our awareness, therefore this happens. This entire Process renders us vulnerable to emotional processing. Becoming irritated is a positive sign; it means we are attending to the Process as instructed. Instead of fighting the experience, it is recommended we go to a mirror and acknowledge ourselves for our bravery in allowing these feelings to enter our awareness. Because we invest energy into mastering the art of suppressing the aspects of our life experience we do not know how to integrate, it is natural we become concerned when they surface into our awareness, even though by entering The Presence Process we are agreeing to this! This is a normal reflex. Our automatic conditioned reaction is to attempt to control what is happening. We are asked not to. We are encouraged to allow these echoes from the past to surface without judgement or concern. Feeling irritated, grumpy, or depressed is allowed, as long as we do not take it out on others, and as importantly, we do not take it out on ourselves. These uncomfortable feelings are coming up now because we are required to witness them, and because we are now instructed on how to integrate them. We are now asked to let them be, to feel them, acknowledge them, and observe the impact this type of energy is having on our overall life experience. We are to be compassionately present with them as opposed to reacting as though something is wrong. During The Presence Process it is beneficial to feel uncomfortable, as long as our discomfort is authentic. What do we mean by this? Initially, the resonance arising from the procedure of cleansing our emotional body is cradled in an energetic experience so unfamiliar to the thinking mind and the agenda of the egoic self, that it is interpreted as pain and discomfort. Allowing ourselves to feel this pain and discomfort without judgement or concern is part of the transformation of the ego and the thinking mind. Pain and discomfort enable us to anchor the required awareness into our physical body that serves to dissolve the out-of-body illusions we concocted in time. Passing through this perceived state of pain and discomfort is a rite of passage for any soul seeking to awaken from a time-based paradigm. WHEN
WE ARE NOT PREPARED TO FACE OUR OWN INNER PAIN AND DISCOMFORT, WE ARE NOT YET READY TO EMOTIONALLY GROW UP AND EMBRACE AUTHENTIC RESPONSIBILITY.

The inner energetic experience we initially perceive as discomfort is the energetic border post between our mental sleep-state and our entry into integrated awareness, into emotional body awareness. The necessity of making this uncomfortable transition is not entirely unknown to us; it is referred to in religious scriptures and sacred texts. It is the no pain no gain adage. More often than not, this truth is misinterpreted and externalised into outer rites, rituals, and ceremonies. When we misinterpret and externalise this rite of passage, we seek out added outer pain and discomfort. This is why we witness Yogis lying on beds of nails, piercing their bodies, standing of one leg for days at a time, adopting excruciating physical postures, and inflicting self-punishment in the name of attaining higher states of consciousness. This too is why orthodox religions believe suffering brings us closer to God. This is also why we often enter activities that purposely add pain to our daily lives.

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WHEN

WE DO NOT KNOW HOW TO ACCESS AND INTEGRATE OUR INNER PAIN, WE ATTEMPT TO DULL IT BY INITIATING OUTER PAIN.

This is the source of all self-mutilating behavior. Regardless of whether our intent is spiritual or out of desperation, this masochistic behavior is unnecessary and of no assistance to us. It strengthens the ego identity and breeds added confusion within the thinking mind. The discomfort or pain we are required to move through to activate an experience of integrated awareness is the discomfort already dormant within us; it is the discomfort surfacing from choosing to feel the authentic condition of our emotional body as we embrace any procedure that cleanses it. When we are born into a time-based paradigm, we experience a blockage of our energy systems. In the most simplistic terms, this blockage is the trauma of an unconditional being entering a conditional experience. Each one of us harbours an inner dysfunctional energetic condition until we choose to integrate it as part of our journey into present moment awareness. We then realize it is not trauma at all; it is part of our evolutionary process and is therefore about as traumatic as it is for a flower to unravel its petals. OUR
DYSFUNCTIONAL EMOTIONAL BLOCKAGE IS AN ENERGETIC RESIDUE IMPLANTED DURING OUR ENTRY INTO A TIME-BASED PARADIGM. IT IS THE EXACT AMOUNT OF DISCOMFORT REQUIRED, THAT WHEN CONSCIOUSLY ATTENDED TO, PULLS THE PRECISE AMOUNT OF AWARENESS BACK INTO OUR BODY NECESSARY FOR US TO ACTIVATE PHYSICAL PRESENCE.

THIS

PRECISE LEVEL OF

PHYSICAL PRESENCE IN TURN ACTIVATES THE NECESSARY MENTAL CLARITY TO AWAKEN US TO THE NECESSITY OF CLEANSING OUR EMOTIONAL BODY.

THE

PRACTICES REQUIRED FOR CLEANSING OUR EMOTIONAL BODY AUTOMATICALLY LEAD US INTO EXPLORING THE

PROCEDURES NECESSARY FOR ACTIVATING EMOTIONAL BODY AWARENESS. DISCOMFORT IS NOT NECESSARY.

OUR

SEEKING

OUT OR ENDURING ADDITIONAL OUTER PAIN AND

INNER DISCOMFORT IS IN EXACT PROPORTION TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF OUR PERSONAL JOURNEY INTO AWAKENING.

Welcoming discomfort as a positive development is challenging for us because the whole world is built on the philosophy of navigating ourselves away from discomfort. This is why THE PRESENCE PROCESS instructs us not to expect to feel good or easy as we move through the experiential procedure. It is the mechanics of our attention brought to bear upon our unconscious experiences of imbalance that restores balance. Therefore, the more suppressed inner discomfort we allow to surface into our awareness during the course of the Process, the more of our negative emotional charge we are able to cleanse. When we embrace this realization, our discomfort during the Process is no longer perceived as a disturbance in our field of experience; it becomes an opportunity, an invitation, and a gift of added present moment awareness to be unwrapped by our compassionate attention. Having compassionate attention for ourselves means it is vitally important we remember to acknowledge ourselves for being brave enough to face our own demons. It is far too easy to run ourselves down, to belittle our efforts, and to agree with the programming in the world telling us we are not perfect as we are. Our task as we go through The Presence Process is to actively brush this negativity aside and replace it with positivity. One of the best and most powerful ways of accomplishing this, as already discussed, is through mirror-work. At some point during every day we stand in front of a mirror. Normally it is to attend to our appearance. Too often this attention is fuelled with the resonance of judgement, criticism, and lack of self-appreciation. These moments in front of a mirror are prime opportunities to attend lovingly to our heart, to talk caringly to our unconsciousness, to nurture our child self, to responsibly wield the tool of compassionate attention, and to actively perfect the art of self-facilitation. Let us not be hesitant, especially when we are experiencing a challenging day, to look into the mirror smilingly and lovingly, and say:
BEING WILLING TO GROW. KNOW WHAT YOU

HELLO

BEAUTIFUL SOUL.

THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU ARE DOING FOR US. YOU ARE BRAVE. WE ARE PROUD OF YOU FOR WE KNOW IT IS SOMETIMES CHALLENGING, BUT REMEMBER ALWAYS THAT WE ARE HERE FOR YOU. LET US REQUIRE AND WE SHALL DO OUR BEST. WE LOVE YOU UNCONDITIONALLY. WE KNOW THAT, WHATEVER IT TAKES, WE SHALL ACCOMPLISH IT TOGETHER.

Approaching ourselves in this manner shaves the rough edges off the challenges inherent in emotional growth. Whenever we are hurting we are encouraged to comfort and soothe ourselves, to acknowledge and support ourselves with as much emotional integrity as we are able to muster, to inspire ourselves emotionally, and to validate ourselves with uplifting words. This cannot be stressed enough.

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THE

MORE VULNERABLE WE BECOME TO OUR OWN LOVING ATTENTION, THE LESS VULNERABLE WE BECOME TO NEEDING AND WANTING THIS FROM OTHERS.

Mastering the ability of lavishing ourselves with unconditional love is one of the greatest accomplishments we can achieve in this life. We learn how to do this by actively practicing it. When we accomplish this towards the reflection we see in the mirror we radiate this frequency into the rest of our life experience. It is easy to love ourselves unconditionally when conditions are favourable; it requires an emotional hero to behave this way when the going gets tough. When we are feeling particularly irritated, and this will occur when we are processing unresolved experiences, let us approach a mirror and become our supporting C.A.S.T. by reassuring ourselves that this is part of the Process, and by telling ourselves that we are our hero for diving into our emotional abyss. 2. What can we do when we keep dozing off while attending to our breathing practice? This obstacle challenges us all at some point during our breathing experiences. It may be caused by tiredness, when we are not getting enough sleep, but often it is not. It is usually the consequence of deeply unconscious experiences surfacing into our awareness. Initially, before we accumulate a certain level of present moment awareness, this surfacing unconsciousness contains a heaviness to it that drags us into a feeling of tiredness. As this occurs, it manifests as us falling asleep during our breathing practice. What is also unfolding during these unconscious spells is that our attention is doing what it is addicted to; leaving our physical body and journeying into the mental plane. We witness this occurrence when, in the midst of our breathing practice, we become fixated on a particular thought-form. We notice that when this occurs, this thought-form then transforms into a lucid dreamy thought-stream, and before we realize it, we are washed into dreamtime. When we are sitting without a back support, it is at this point we feel as though we are falling. This feeling jerks us back into our body and the present moment. This is one of the reasons why it is recommended not to lay down when we attend to our breathing practice, because this feeling of falling serves to bring our awareness back into the present moment. When we sit and attend to our daily breathing, we are intending to remain present and therefore within our physical body. When a thought form seduces us, enticing us to follow it into some imaginary place from our past or our projected future, we leave the present moment, and the body. This manifests as us nodding off. Initially, we are not falling asleep; we are adrift in a dreamtime experience which contains an anaesthetizing quality about it. In this state we may experience powerful visionary imagery. As intriguing as this imagery is, it does not serve our purpose in The Presence Process. When we allow ourselves to remain in this dreamlike state for more than a few seconds, we soon enter sleep. Sometimes our surfacing unconsciousness may be so anaesthetizing it is necessary to take added action:

WE CAN STAND UP AND CONTINUE OUR BREATHING WITH OUR EYES CLOSED. This is the hardcore approach to overcoming deep unconsciousness and not recommended for the fearful or fragile. When we choose to do this, we are to ensure there is an open area in which to fall, and nothing to fall on. We can be sure of one thing: We will only fall once! After that we breathe like a newborn, or like a person whose head has been forcibly held under water for a while. The thought of falling is often enough to maintain sufficient presence. Sometimes even this does not help. When our unconsciousness surfaces it is surprising how proficient we are at sleeping on our feet. We can double-up the tempo of our breathing to eliminate any possibility of pausing between our inhale and exhale. We can stand up, walk around for a minute or two, and splash our face with cold water.

The nature of surfacing deep-seated unconsciousness is that sometimes none of these techniques assist us. Sometimes the only option is to persevere until this particular wave of

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unconsciousness passes, which it will. Sometimes it may confront us consistently in our breathing sessions over a period of a few days, but we do eventually pass through it. Where there is a will, there is a way. What we are not to do is judge ourselves negatively because it is occurring. It is more productive to head for the mirror and to ladle out generous helpings of encouragement to ourselves. These waves of unconsciousness are rushing in at us because we are obediently following the Process instructions. Moving through them is part of the journey into present moment awareness. Moving through them is also made easier when we remember to acknowledge ourselves for the commitment required to do so. These unconscious spells may also flow over us during the course of our daily activities. We may experience days when we feel exhausted for no apparent reason, when we wake up in the morning after a full nights sleep feeling as though we did not sleep at all. This too is a by-product of deeply unconscious energy surfacing into our awareness. It passes like a weather condition. When we are able to indulge in a siesta, enjoy. When not, persevere. It is crucial that when these waves of unconsciousness do pass, we punctuate these moments with acknowledgement. It is easy to forget to give ourselves a thumbs up when we accomplish something significant. Let us not only give ourselves compassionate attention when we are feeling poorly; let us embrace any opportunity to dish out the love. Whenever we accomplish a breakthrough, no matter how big or small, let us call upon our C.A.S.T. to hold an impromptu award ceremony. After overcoming a challenging patch of unconsciousness we are encouraged to stand in front of the mirror and say: LADIES
AND GENTLEMAN, IT GIVES US GREAT PLEASURE TO WELCOME OURSELVES BACK FROM THE DEAD.

SOMEWHAT ALIVE AGAIN, WHICH IS A RELIEF. MAGNIFICENT SUPER SOUL-GROUP.

WE

DID NOT ACCOMPLISH THIS RETURN TO AWARENESS ALONE!

THANK A SPECIAL SOMEONE FOR SUPPORTING US WHILE WE WERE, BY ALL ACCOUNTS, DEAD TO THE AS WE NAPPED THROUGH THE FOG.

THANK YOU FOR BELIEVING IN US WHEN OTHERS DID NOT. THANK YOU FOR KEEPING THE FAITH WE ALSO THANK OUR MANAGER, OUR AGENT, AND OF COURSE, GOD. INDEED, THANK GOD WE GOT THROUGH THIS!

WE ARE FEELING WE THEREFORE WORLD. YES, IT IS YOU, YOU

We are encouraged to incorporate fun into our mirror work. Being able to entertain ourselves and cheer ourselves up is a great feat. A daily diet of light-hearted acknowledgement, including generous helpings of silliness, enables us to overcome daunting obstacles and accomplish the most remarkable feats. Light-heartedness is ours to dish out and therefore to receive. No better deal than this exists in the universe. 3. Is it normal to feel tired and require added Process? sleep during the

Yes. This, as already touched on, is a beneficial sign of progress. Let us address the tiredness issue again, but this time with intent to gain deeper understanding of the levels of consciousness we pass through as we move from a time-based paradigm into present moment awareness. When we accumulate present moment awareness, it is as though we are awakening from a deep sleep. Our thoughts in time then reveal their true identity: A dream we are having. By entering present moment awareness we integrate what is meant by the expression, Life only happens in the present moment. When we occupy a time-based paradigm and are adrift in thoughts about the past or projected future, it is challenging for us to comprehend that no real movement is occurring in our experience. We think we are living, but are we? LIFE
IS AUTHENTICALLY EXPERIENCED RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, NOT IN SOME ILLUSORY MENTAL DREAM STATE.

While we occupy a time-based mentality, we think about what we would like to have done in the past and what we would like to do in the future. These thoughts appear so vivid that we believe something real is happening, yet these mental experiences are as real as the dream state we occupy when asleep in our beds. Dreaming while asleep in our bed appears real too; that is why we run in fear when having an experience of being chased in our dreams.

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It is only when we awake into the morning light that we realize the dream is not real. It causes us fear, yet it is not real. Awakening from living in a time-based paradigm is the same as awakening from a dream. While we live in time and almost exclusively occupy the mental plane and its endless maze of thought-corridors, we also experience fear. We also experience anger and grief. As we awaken ourselves into present moment awareness we realize our fears, anger, and grief have no basis in reality. We only thought we were afraid, angry, or sad. These emotional states are nightmares taking place in our waking dreamtime. They appear to have power over us only while we lack present moment awareness. The mental state called worrying is dreaming while we are awake. Our worries also cause us to experience fear, anger, and grief. Yet, when we extract ourselves from this mental daydream and examine our thoughts objectively, we perceive a worry as it is: A thought about something not yet occurred. Therefore, a worry is an illusion; it contains no substance. However, because of our inherent creative abilities, when we entertain a particular worry long enough, when it becomes a repetitive loop in our inner dialog, at some point on our timeline it manifests as an actual physical circumstance. Why? Because worrying is a powerful prayer. WORRYING
IS PRAYING.

Worrying is the combination of our attention (point of mental focus) and intention (the emotional signature accompanying it), which we repeat with devotion (consistently). This too constitutes the mechanics of prayer. Many of us assume prayer is a specialized utterance made in a selected moment when we are addressing God. Our human error is assuming that God only listens when we address whatever God is for us. We believe this because we perceive God in our own image. We listen selectively, and therefore we believe this too is an attribute of God. God is always listening. Another error is assuming prayers only constitute our positive utterances, or our holy expressions. This is also incorrect. The manifestation process called prayer is neutral. It is a vibrational technology not equipped with a censoring or filtering device. We use this technology to manifest negative and positive scenarios. The outcome of our prayers is determined by how selectively, or consciously, we combine and wield the power of our attention and intention. We are praying 24 hours a day; while we are awake and while we are asleep. Our life in any given moment is an answer to our ongoing prayer. God does not filter out certain prayers and only pay attention to the good ones. Gods Law of Love, which we also call the law of cause and effect, is impartial; it obediently and unfalteringly provides the output to our ongoing input. Ask and ye shall receive. This is why we are the only ones, and ours are the only thoughts, we require authority over and protection from. When we live in time the majority of our prayers are uttered unconsciously, based on the current emotional condition of our inner child. Of the prayers we do attend to consciously, the majority of these are derived from illusory worries. We then wonder why the quality of our life experience is chaotic and uncomfortable. By the Love of God we are always given what we ask for based on what we most appreciate. In contemplating this truth, we are not to think Gods gauging of what we most appreciate is based on what we most enjoy, value, or like. WHAT
WE MOST APPRECIATE IS DETERMINED BY WHAT WE ATTEND TO MOST WITH OUR ATTENTION AND INTENTION.

This is why we are encouraged to do whatever is required to awaken ourselves from this predicament of living in an unconscious, repetitive, recycled dream-state. It is also important to be aware that as we do awaken, we pass through different stages of weariness and wakefulness, of alertness and distraction, of confusion and clarity. Being aware of these stages is helpful. Recognizing them confirms our progress. Initially, as we commence our journey through The Presence Process, our unconscious activity is more pronounced than our level of accumulated present moment awareness. Therefore, as we initiate the procedure of inviting our unconsciousness to surface for integration, it may initially be so overwhelming that it drags our awareness back into a dream state. When we are attending to our breathing exercise, this initial predicament manifests as

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us falling asleep. This sleep-state can occur so quickly that we only become aware we fell asleep when we awake and realize we stopped connecting our breathing. This experience of falling asleep without warning is an indicator that we have commenced our journey into increasing wakefulness. This brings our discussion to the levels of consciousness we move through as we exit the time-based paradigm and re-enter present moment awareness. The following are the basic levels we all go through at some stage in our journey:

LEVEL ONE: WE

ATTEND TO OUR CONNECTED BREATHING EXERCISE, WE BREATHE FOR A WHILE, AND THEN FALL

ASLEEP WITHOUT WARNING.

This occurs to most of us and therefore is not a reason to quit the practice. It is an indicator that we are processing our unconsciousness and calls for perseverance. LEVEL TWO: PRIOR TO OUR EXPERIENCE OF FALLING ASLEEP, WE MOMENTARILY ENTER A VIVID DREAM STATE. This dream state occurs after a thought-stream catches our attention and seduces us into following it. When we do, it leads us right into the dreamscape of the mental plane. By following it we exit the present moment, momentarily hover amidst lucid visualizations, and then fall asleep. LEVEL THREE: WE MANAGE TO STAY AWAKE, OR SOMEWHAT CONSCIOUS, IN THE DREAM STATE CREATED BY THESE THOUGHT-STREAMS. We are aware we are still breathing, but we are also aware we are dreaming. We are not immediately dragged into an unconscious sleep state. During this experience we may enter a lucid dreamscape that is visionary. This experience may be enjoyable and interesting, but as far as The Presence Process is concerned, is unproductive. If we entertain this experience we are inevitably dragged into a sleepstate. LEVEL FOUR: WE BECOME AWARE OF THIS ENCROACHING LUCID THOUGHT-STREAM AND WE USE IT AS A POINT OF AWAKENING. We use the encroaching dreamscape to remind ourselves to return our awareness to our breathing and hence the present moment. When we are able to accomplish this, the dream is no longer seductive; it is now a tool to awaken us from our sleep state by alerting us when we are drifting into the mental plane.

This inner progress in our breathing practice is also mirrored outwardly as a growing alertness in our behavioral awareness, in our graduating ability to overcome unconscious reactive behavior. For example:

INITIALLY,

WHEN EMOTIONALLY TRIGGERED, WE REACT UNCONSCIOUSLY AND ONLY REALIZE AFTERWARDS HOW WE WERE

HELPLESSLY SWEPT AWAY BY OUR UNCONSCIOUS EMOTIONS.

(This is equivalent to falling asleep during our breathing practice and only realizing this has occurred when we awake.) WE
BECOME MORE CONSCIOUS AND CATCH OURSELVES MID-REACTION WHEN EMOTIONALLY TRIGGERED.

WE

STILL REACT,

BUT WE ARE ABLE TO STEP OUTSIDE THE EXPERIENCE AND WITNESS OUR OWN REACTIVE BEHAVIOR.

(This is equivalent to seeing the dreamscape developing just prior to being dragged into sleep by it.) WE
ACCUMULATE ENOUGH PRESENT MOMENT AWARENESS TO PERCEIVE THE TRIGGERING EVENT FOR WHAT IT IS AS IT

UNFOLDS.

WE ARE ABLE TO USE IT AS A TOOL TO REMIND US TO REMAIN PRESENT AND RESPONSIVE. (This is equivalent to using the dreamscape to alert us to return our attention to our breathing.)

The gradients of accumulating present moment awareness are therefore represented in our inner and outer experiences. We do not move through them quickly, nor is it possible to force, control, dictate, or predict them. Our task is to build a foundation for this evolution by attending to the daily inner and outer practices. The inner practice is the consciously connected breathing and the outer is The Emotional Cleansing Process. We may also perceive ourselves moving backwards and forwards through these levels of awareness depending on

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the intensity of the surfacing unconscious issue/s we are dealing with, and also on where we are in our process of integrating them. One of the first indicators of this evolution of awareness is our deep sense of weariness. Extreme tiredness during The Presence Process means deep-rooted unconsciousness is now surfacing. The only way out of this experience is through it, and the only way through it is to attend to our Process requirements consistently. We are asked to do our best and to trust our Inner Presence to take care of the rest. As long as we take consistent steps, our progress is inevitable. Feeling tired at points throughout The Presence Process is normal and definitely not worth worrying about. It comes to pass. It comes to deliver us into the quality of light that reveals we have been dreaming. In this light, it comes to wake us. 4. What does it mean when we experience strange and vivid dreams?

Our dreams are an expression of our unconscious activity. They are intended as communication from our unconsciousness to our consciousness. Dreams are a wonderful barometer of the state of our unconscious realm. By entering The Presence Process, we intend to bring awareness to our unconsciousness, and this is often reflected as an increase or change in dream activity. This is a beneficial indicator. The meaning of our dreams is universal and personal. When deciphering them we are not to read them literally, but to approach them symbolically and interact with them as dancing metaphors. We are encouraged to take note of the various symbols in our dreamscape, and then to decipher them by ascertaining what these symbols mean to us. For example, when we dream about our mother, we are not necessarily dreaming about our mother, but about what our mother represents to us. Therefore the first step in deciphering this dream is to access the meaning of this representation, this metaphoric symbol. We therefore ask ourselves, What does my mother mean to me? What does she symbolize in my life? Then we take this insight and examine it in the context in which it appears in the dream. This approach guarantees accurate dream analysis. When we take our dreams to someone else, we are more likely to receive a literal analysis, or their interpretations of our symbols. How can this assist us? Many of us assume our dreams are prophetic. For the most part, this is an incorrect assumption. Whatever is happening in the dream is happening as we are dreaming it, and reaches conclusion when the dream concludes. It is activity in the unconscious being communicated as it occurs via dream symbology. It is audiovisual evidence of unconscious processing seeping through into our awareness as we sleep. Therefore, on one level it is useful to be able to interpret our dreams, because then we are more aware of our unfolding process. But, on the other hand, it does not matter whether we understand them or not, because what transpires is already completed. We are not to be too concerned when we cannot understand our dreams. It is enough know that an increase of dreaming activity in The Presence Process is an increase in the velocity of our unconscious processing. This is progress. 5. What should we do when we feel a core issue surfacing, but no matter how much we try, we cannot breathe our way through it? The most significant word in this question is try. When musicians are performing live in an orchestra, they are not trying; they are playing, they are in the moment. They do not stop in the middle of the piece and ask, How do I sound? I feel as though I could do better. Do you think I should play this piece differently? Maybe I should start again? What do you think? Instead they follow the score on the sheet music and perform it as their part is called for in time with the rest of the musicians in the orchestra. This is how they stay in harmony with their fellow musicians and remain in the present moment of the performance. The Presence Process is similar to a piece of music; it begins, goes through various movements, and comes to a point of completion. The piece at the end of it is not played until the end, and the piece in the middle is not played at the beginning. Like an orchestral piece, The Presence Process also contains various individual parts, that when played together, create a wonderful harmony. It contains the breathing exercise, the Presence Activation Statements, the reading materials containing the perceptual tools, and the water sessions.

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We, the musicians in this piece, are asked to play our part without judgement, and without thinking we know how it is supposed to unfold. Anything we add to the instructions is called trying. TRYING ALWAYS INITIATES A RESONANCE OF INTERFERENCE AND INAUTHENTICITY. In The Presence Process we therefore do not try; instead we play our part. Trying is the same as controlling, is a waste of time and energy, and is often a reaction to not following the instructions consistently; when we do not attend to what we are asked, at some point we feel we have to try harder. As we journey through The Presence Process we may perceive core issues surfacing into our awareness, but this does got give us license to metaphorically pull and tug at them, attempting to integrate them where, how, and when we deem it appropriate. This procedure is about surrender, about the end of being sure. We are to allow The Presence Process to follow its course and not attempt to steer it this way or that. We are to follow the instructions, leaving the outcome to the discretion of our Inner Presence. It is our nature, because we are conditioned with destination-consciousness, to attempt to play the final piece in any movement of our life experience as soon as possible. We do not care for the middle; for the journey. We do not perceive the benefit in the passageway of naturally unfolding experience. We only value the speediness of an outcome. For many of us it is challenging to follow instructions without meddling, without attempting to influence the natural rhythm of the experience. The end of an orchestral piece only sounds appropriate and harmonious because it is performed at the end. Perceiving a core issue simmering beneath the surface of our awareness is wonderful. However, let us keep the following in mind: These issues emerge and resolve in a manner and at the juncture in our experience that serves us most. The awareness of having surfacing core issues is part of our journey; it is not an indicator that we are to accomplish a specific task or achieve a specific destination. We are to relax and watch with curiosity as our Inner Presence untangles our past with unexpected ease. The less we attempt to align our processing with our time-based agendas, the more effortless and comfortable the outcome. Trying implies we assume we know what is supposed to be unfolding. This attitude cannot serve us. 6. What is happening when we feel weepy for no especially when we feel this way in public places? apparent reason,

Feeling weepy during The Presence Process is a sign of progress and does not require a reason. Weepiness is of the emotional body, while having a reason is of the mental body. We live in a world where the mental body is regarded as superior to the emotional body. This manifests outwardly as a male-dominated society immersed in insensitive controlling behavior. Despite our conditioned beliefs about male dominance and female subservience, the mental and emotional body are equal. The purpose of healing at this stage of our evolution is to restore balance to this predicament by restoring balance to our own inner masculine and feminine attributes. This means realigning our mental and emotional body by redefining their purposes in our life experience.

Instead of using our mental body for only thinking, analysing, and understanding, we are now invited to use it as a tool for consciously navigating the focus of our attention. Instead of using our emotional body only for a dramatic externalisation of our emotions, we are now invited to use it to access our authentic feelings, for containment and discernment, and for learning how to channel our personal energy as a means to fuel the impetus of our intentions.

An important part of this healing journey is surrendering the control of our male side so that our female side is able to cease sedating grief. Crying for no reason is an indication that this is accomplished. Crying is one of the most efficient ways to detoxify the emotional body. However, it is to be authentic crying, not further outward manifestations of drama to gain attention and sympathy. The ego loves group crying or public weeping. It loves to wail dramatically for an audience because this accomplishes nothing threatening to its reign. Crying to gain attention

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strengthens the ego. Because the ego is a devotee of the thinking mind, it relishes having a reason to cry. I can tell you in heart-breaking detail why I am expressing my grief, it exclaims. These well thought out public displays of emotion are futile. For the purpose of The Presence Process, it is best to cry alone, and it is most appropriate to cry for no reason at all. CRYING
ALONE FOR NO REASON IS CLEANSING , HEALING, AND LIBERATING.

Authentic tears dilute the reign of the egos control because they awaken us to the vulnerable predicament of our child self. The moment we attend to our child self we discover our true source of joy, abundance, and health. We consequently see through the egos deluded beliefs that outer happenings, tons of cash, and perfect appearances restore inner peace. One of the ways our ego manipulates us into remaining ignorant of our inner treasure is ensuring that when our authentic grief does surface, we only become vulnerable to it in public places. When this occurs, one of two things happen: We suppress our emotions out of embarrassment or awkwardness. We let release our emotions but allow this experience to evolve into a dramatic display orchestrated by the ego to rally outside attention.

Either way, the ego benefits. For the purpose of The Presence Process, it is therefore recommended we exercise the power of our intent in this matter. We accomplish this by standing in front of the mirror and declaring: IT
IS PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE TO CRY, TO SOB, AND TO WAIL UNTIL WE COLLAPSE IN A HEAP ON THE FLOOR. EXPERIENCE THIS FOR NO REASON AT ALL.

WE

WE

ARE WILLING TO

INTEND THESE OCCURRENCES TO SURFACE WHEN WE ARE ABLE TO

COMPASSIONATELY ATTEND TO THEM IN A MANNER THAT DOES NOT ADD UNWARRANTED DRAMA TO OUR LIFE EXPERIENCE.

Our intention gives the members of our C.A.S.T. full permission to facilitate us through this experience in a manner benefiting the cleansing of our emotional body and not the strengthening of our ego. However, when this grief does surface as and how we intend it, we are to respond accordingly. We are to avoid running from the experience to the T.V., food, and unnecessary telephone calls. Instead we are to gratefully seize the moment; settle down with a box of tissues and release our suppressed grief. We always feel lighter afterwards. Then, when the experience has passed, we run ourselves a gentle bath or enjoy a soothing shower. And of course, we summon our supporting C.A.S.T. for a moment of acknowledgement. After these crying sessions we are to nurture ourselves, actively confirming that this releasing experience is something wonderful, necessary, and liberating. This is especially important when coming from a children should be seen and not heard environment. Too often, during childhood, we are admonished for venting our grief, or given treats to sedate us from causing the adults around us to feel uncomfortable by reflecting their unresolved grief through the flow of our tears. Or, we witnessed others treated this way when they exhibited their sorrows. Because we are now in the process of neutralizing this negative programming, we are encouraged to let ourselves know that any crying we experience while cleansing our emotional body calls for celebration. Through our crying, stagnant energy drains and makes room for a new flow of vibrant life force. Right now, because of the specific passage of evolution we are passing through, crying alone for no reason at all is one of the most powerful and beautiful cleansing procedures. It is highly recommended, especially for us manly men and strong women of the world. The Presence Process invites us to let go and have a wail of a time. By letting our tears flow naturally, we re-enter the natural flow of our life experience. 7. What is recommended when we find it attend to our daily breathing? challenging to put aside time to

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In each 24-hour period we are all allotted the same amount of time; 24 hours. If we struggle to allocate a portion of this to our breathing practice, it is obvious we are not responsible with our time, especially with regards allocating time for self-nurturing activities. WE
MANAGE OUR TIME ACCORDING TO OUR PERSONAL VALUE SYSTEM.

This is how we know what we most value. When we cannot manifest a 15-minute opening for ourselves in the morning, and then again in the evening, it is recommended we examine how we manage our overall life experience. If, in a 24-hour period, we cannot give ourselves 30 minutes for self-development, we are out of balance and our personal value system is dysfunctional. A dysfunctional value system is one that does not serve us. Who then are we serving? We cannot give anything real to others when we do not know how to give to ourselves. Being a Marta solidifies the ego by sacrificing the well-being of the soul. Sacrificing ourselves on any altar renders our ability to alter our awareness impotent. The only accomplishment from lying on a bed of nails is pain. Many of us entertain the belief that getting up earlier in the morning to attend to our breathing adds tiredness to our day. This is psychological self-hypnosis; getting up early only tires us when we believe it does. Resistance causes more fatigue than lessened sleep. Getting up a little earlier in the morning to create a space for inner stillness, to attend to our breathing exercise, adds awareness to our day. It instils ease into all our activities and encounters. The same applies to entering sleep a little later to manifest the space and stillness to attend to our breathing exercise before retiring. This does not cause weariness the following day; breathing for 15 minutes before we go to sleep relaxes our body through oxygenation and our mind through added presence. We sleep more consciously, comfortably, and awaken restfully in the morning. We mistakenly assume added sleep is the solution to our weariness. Sometimes a few moments of conscious self-nurturing are what our body, mind, and heart thirst for. Often weariness is the outcome of too much sleep. Instances also occur during The Presence Process when we become energized and require less sleep. Believing these lessened sleep periods cause tiredness the following day is also a mental trap. Instead of tossing and turning irritably in our bed when we cannot sleep, which is in itself exhausting, we have the choice to embrace these awakened moments; to get up and relax with some reading, to stretch our body, or breathe consciously. By remaining alert and aware during these experiences we discover we feel energized and alert the following day, despite lessened sleep. One of the main reasons we struggle to make time for our required breathing, and for reading our Process materials thoroughly, is because we do not yet appreciate their value (TPP/Pg 127). Comprehending the value of self-nurturing is only available in hindsight. It requires observing the fruits of our consistent input. This is where we are called upon to initially take a leap of faith; to attend to our Process requirements no matter what. Consistency sows the seeds of emotional maturity. It is also crucial we remember to acknowledge ourselves each day for the time we do attend to our breathing. Instilling and sticking to this daily task in a world demanding every moment of our waking hours from us is commendable. Let us therefore ensure we acknowledge ourselves daily for this. It is far too easy to focus on what we have not accomplished. Instead, we are invited to place our attention on what we have accomplished. By acknowledging ourselves for every breathing session we complete, we lay the foundation for embracing our forthcoming sessions with a positive attitude. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
AND APPRECIATION DILUTE RESISTANCE.

It is remarkable how much momentum a positive attitude adds to the challenging aspects of our life experience. When we awaken the ability to provide our own positive feedback, to acknowledge and appreciate ourselves, we are less likely to seek, expect, or depend upon external circumstances to provide this for us. Then we move at a speed not determined by pack-mentality or pack leaders. Then we open the door to our uniqueness, unlimited-ness, and authenticity.

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8. What if we do not understand what the breathing accomplishes and feel as though we are wasting our time? Is it possible to explain its mechanics in a way that assists us to motivate ourselves? Yes. One of the reasons why the immense power of sitting for 15 minutes twice a day and connecting our breathing is initially challenging for us to comprehend is because it is a causal activity. This means the adjustments taking place are initially only discernable in the emotional body and therefore require emotional body awareness to perceive them. As we progress through The Presence Process the effects of these causal adjustments gradually seep through into our mental and physical awareness and are then easier to perceive. However, as we initiate emotional body awareness they become obvious. In The Presence Process the breathing practice has two specific purposes:

TO ACCUMULATE PRESENT MOMENT AWARENESS. Because there is no breath in the past or the future, when we connect our breathing, an aspect of our awareness, though it may be miniscule to begin with, remains in the present moment. The breathing therefore serves to anchor us here and now. Initially, depending on how much presence we already have, we may experience this simple task as challenging. Yet, each time we attend to it, we accumulate present moment awareness. The experience called present moment awareness then dawns for us as increasing levels of physical, mental, and emotional awareness. Awareness is an interesting word. Phonetically it is spoken as, a-where-ness. It may therefore be defined as, the knowing of where we are. When we are adrift in our thoughts, we not conscious of where we are, where we have been, or where we are going. This is called poor present moment awareness. While we are adrift in our thoughts, we may entertain as many mental plans as we want, but little comes of them because they are a concoction of mental illusions or interpretations we entertain about the past and the future. These thoughts are daydreams. They are similar to the dreams we experience while asleep. Therefore, when we are mentally adrift in time, it is accurate to say we are sleepwalking through our life experience. While living in a time-based paradigm many of us spend most of our waking hours in this mental sleep-state. To transform these daydreams into productive activity requires we show up in the present moment and act, because the present moment is the only place where anything real is accomplished. The first function of our breathing exercise is therefore to empower us with a practical procedure enabling us to exit our dreamtime and to metaphorically drop the anchor of our awareness into the present moment. The firmer we anchor ourselves in the present moment, the more vibrant and fruitful our life experience becomes. Achieving this initiates automatic consequences, and this is where the second function of our breathing exercise comes into play. TO ASSIST US TO INTEGRATE OUR UNRESOLVED PAST AND FEARFULLY PROJECTED FUTURE. As we anchor our attention, and hence awareness, in the present moment, we are stealing attention back from places it is habitually attached to in the mental realm. These places of attachment are the unresolved experiences of our past. Unconsciously, these undigested past experiences cause us to ask two questions: What happened? and How can we stop this happening again?" The first question causes us to anchor a portion of our attention into a place that becomes our past, while the second question causes us to project a portion of our attention into a place called our future. These points of distraction take a continual investment of energy to maintain. They also diminish the amount of attention and hence awareness accessible in the present moment. As we connect our breathing and anchor more and more of our attention right here and now, these unconscious points of distraction surface into our awareness; by pulling our attention into the present moment we are also tugging these anchored points out of our unconscious and into our conscious awareness. By accomplishing this, we have the opportunity to compassionately attend to them and bring them to resolution. In THE PRESENCE PROCESS the procedure of resolving of our past and projected future is called integration. The unfolding and deliberate mechanics of this resolution procedure is called processing.

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In The Presence Process the consciously connected breathing therefore initiates and maintains this entire journey of processing, integrating, and accumulating present moment awareness. It is one thing to understand this mentally, and doing so may well motivate us, it is another to physically, mentally, and emotionally experience the benefits of this practice. When, by diligently attending to our daily practice, we give ourselves the opportunity to experience the consequences of consciously connected breathing, we develop a faith in the procedure enabling us to attend to it no matter what. Until we acquire this faith, we are encouraged to muster the will to do it no matter what. We are to encourage ourselves. Encouragement leads to accomplishment, and accomplishment initiates a growing faith in the practice and ourselves. When we finally know what the breathing accomplishes, it may still be challenging to explain. This is because it is a causal activity, and therefore one easier comprehended through felt-perception than mental understanding. When we feel as though we are accomplishing something, even though we may not be able to verbalize what it is, we are on the right track. Let this feeling be enough, because it is. 9. What can we do about forgetting to repeat the Presence Activation Statement? This happens to us all. This is not an issue to be concerned about and there is nothing to do to rectify it. During The Presence Process we are asked to set our intention after our morning breathing exercise to repeat the Presence Activator Statement whenever we are not mentally occupied, and then to enter our day and do the best we can. Forgetting it, and then remembering to repeat it, is part of the procedure of accumulating mental presence. Mental presence is the ability to be conscious of our thought processes. Often we drown in our thoughts for hours, and when we surface into awareness again, it is as though we were washed away into a dream state. This is caused by thinking. In the present moment thinking is not necessary. In a time-based paradigm, thinking appears to be of great importance, because there is a past to reflect on and a future to project into. Yet, when we enter present moment awareness, there is nothing to think about; instead we use our mental body to navigate, to place our clear intentions. Once our intentions are placed, we get on with the activity of living. When there is something we do not know, or are not sure of, we ask the question internally, and keep an open mind so the answer manifests when we are ready to receive it (TPP/Pg 33). IN
THE CONTEXT OF PRESENT MOMENT AWARENESS, WE DO NOT DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN THINKING AND DREAMING; THEY ARE THE

SAME MENTAL STATE.

THE

ONLY DIFFERENCE IS ONE TAKES PLACE WHILE WE ARE AWAKE AND THE OTHER WHILE WE ARE ASLEEP.

Throughout The Presence Process we are given Presence Activation Statements. One of their functions is assisting us to awaken ourselves from this habitual mental dream state. They assist us to build the muscle empowering us to remain mentally present, alert, and conscious. This muscle is built in the same manner we build muscles in the physical body. To build muscles in our physical body we participate in strenuous activities. These activities break down the structure of our muscles. We then relax and allow the muscles to rebuild themselves, to callous. As they do, they take on a form that is bigger and stronger; this is of course as long as the body is provided with sufficient nutrition to support the procedure. The same procedure unfolds during our repetition of the Presence Activator Statements. When we attend to our mental repetition, we work the mental muscle enabling us to anchor our awareness in the present moment. Then we relax our efforts. This period of relaxation appears as forgetting, or becoming unconscious of our thought processes again. These experiences of forgetting are an essential part of the procedure. By the repetition of remembering and forgetting, and then remembering again, we are building a muscle, a powerful mental muscle. As this mental muscle strengthens it empowers us with the ability to withdraw our attention from where it is anchored to our past or projected future. We use the same muscle for navigation, for maintaining the clarity of our intentions. We are to avoid jumping to the conclusion that when we forget to repeat our Presence Activation Statements we are doing something wrong, or performing at less than our

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potential. We are not to judge ourselves or attempt to calculate our progress; this cannot accomplish anything. It is far better to acknowledge ourselves for whatever amount of time we manage to steal from our unconscious activities for this mental repetition. Mastering the thinking mind is a momentous task. Every little step we take, every moment we steal from its manic rule over us, is worth large doses of self-directed acknowledgement. Let us take every opportunity to appreciate what we do accomplish, because when we do, we gain the momentum to accomplish more. 10. What can we do about our thoughts being breathing exercise? scattered during the

Obviously, the ideal scenario is to connect our breathing and have our attention imbedded 100% in our Presence Activator Statement throughout the breathing session, or to have our attention absorbed in the sound and feeling of each breath we take. This quality of attention is achievable after many months or years of practice, but it is not the place at which we start. An entire journey of processing unfolds before we are successful at stilling the mind and able to sharpen the focus of our attention to this extent. One of the frustrations we face with regards extracting our attention from functioning in a time-based paradigm concerns stilling the thinking mind. We have been adrift in a timebased paradigm for many lifetimes and as a consequence the thinking mind is untrained, untamed, and unruly. While we operate in a time-based paradigm, the thinking mind is the master and we are the servant. Extracting ourselves from this predicament requires a 180 degree reversal of this relationship. Often, when we come to this Process, we expect to still our thinking mind in the first week of the experience, and then we become frustrated when this is not accomplished. This causes unnecessary self-judgement and a feeling of being defeated before we begin. We are to remain realistic about the nature of our predicament and the content of the road before us. Eastern wisdom tells us that when someone declares they swallowed the oceans, we may believe them. When they tell us they moved the Himalayas to another location using a teaspoon, we may believe them too. However, when they profess to silencing their thinking mind we are most likely in the company of a liar. Either the thinking mind is stilled through the impact of a traumatic experience, which happens, but is seldom, or it is stilled through years and even lifetimes of dedicated practice. The intent of The Presence Process breathing exercise is not to still the thinking mind, but to occupy its attention as best we can. Either way it becomes bored and wanders off into other thoughts it finds more entertaining, or that it is addicted too. When it does, we bring it back to the task at hand, knowing full well it will wander off again. This tug of war is the predicament for most of us. This is an indicator of the power of the thinking mind, and also of the level of servitude we now experience in relation to it. Fortunately, as long as our breathing remains connected, we are making the required progress. As long as our breathing is connected there is an aspect of our awareness anchored in the present moment. This small aspect of awareness connects us to the unlimited possibilities of our Inner Presence. Our Inner Presence knows no order of difficulty, therefore concern about our wayward thinking mind is unnecessary. Our responsibility is to keep our breathing connected to the best of our ability. To achieve perfect concentration is to achieve Diamond Consciousness. Diamond Consciousness is when the integrity of our attention and intention are perfectly aligned. Accomplishing this is no easy task because it requires the complete awakening and integration of our unconsciousness. In this day and Age this may well be the hardest challenge to embrace. Accomplishing this is also the most rewarding, because when perfect concentration is accomplished, an inner door opens at the Eye Centre allowing our awareness to exit this world and enter another dimension. No access is available to this inner realm while any part of our awareness is adrift in time. Concentration is the key that opens this door. To pass through this doorway is to step upon a pathway that leads from the transient experience of living into the eternal awareness of Life. There is however a long and winding road of life experience to move through before this level of perfect concentration is accomplished. Every part of the journey is necessary and valuable. Attempting to leap-frog over any of the steps only causes unnecessary frustration.

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Our wandering thoughts at the time of our breathing practice also serve as a necessary part of the mechanics of the processing of our unconsciousness; they enable the power of the present moment awareness growing within our attention to touch upon the fragments of our surfacing unconsciousness. These fragments of unconsciousness are transformed by our awareness of them. This is a necessary part of the journey. We are therefore to be gentle, compassionate, and patient with ourselves as we attend to our breathing, or any procedure assisting us to awaken from the dream of time. We are not to waste any time or energy judging or calculating our progress. A golden rule for any emotional growth procedure is: DO NOT BRING CALCULATION INTO IT. Calculation anchors us into the mental realm. It causes us to backtrack out of emotional body awareness. This makes our task more challenging. We are not to be in a hurry to arrive somewhere. What we think of as God is an unlimited experience, the journey into God-consciousness is therefore eternal. When we look at it from this perspective, attempting to calculate how far we have come, and how far we are still to travel, is hilarious. LETS
SEE NOW, SAYS THE EGO TALKING TO THE THINKING MIND, MUCH FURTHER HAVE

HOW

MUCH OF THIS INFINITE JOURNEY IS LEFT AND HOW

TRAVELLED INTO ETERNITY THAN ANYONE ELSE?

Only the ego is silly enough to ask this, and only the thinking mind falls for the task of attempting to calculate the answer. Our task is to take one connected breath, and then another, and then another. We are to mentally repeat our Presence Activation Statements as best we can. When our thoughts wander, we bring them back, without judgement or concern. Each time we bring them back, we acknowledge our power and will to do so. We say, Good job! or Well done!, because this is true. Encouragement inspires us to take another breath. Each connected breath is a footstep on the pathway that leads us home to ourselves. 11. Is it necessary to understand what happened suppressed memory? in the past to integrate a

No. This is not traditional therapy. The new paradigm The Presence Process invites us into is one in which we facilitate ourselves by establishing a relationship with our Inner Presence. One of the attributes of our Inner Presence is that it knows. Therefore the mechanics of understanding are not required to accomplish anything. It knows because it is a silent witness to every moment of every experience we encounter. It does not function from a time-based perspective, and therefore, to it, everything that has ever happened is still happening NOW. It has access to every experience we have ever had, NOW. It therefore does not require thinking to access any knowledge about us, and because it does not sit in judgement of our experiences, neither does it require understanding to relate to them. In a time-based paradigm we initially require the tool of understanding to assist us to comprehend the necessity for opening ourselves to being facilitated by our Inner Presence. Once we allow this, once we surrender to this, miracles (no order of difficulty) are accomplished without enlisting our understanding of anything. Traditional therapy is an attempt to understand what happened, and through the process of understanding, to assist us to come to terms with and hopefully overcome our unresolved experiences. Traditional therapy is the tool of the thinking mind and therefore the playground of the ego; the moment we tell our stories we are solidifying the illusions perpetuated by our egoic identity. The fact that many of us remain in therapy for years reveals the efficiency of this approach. Traditional therapy initiates a catch-22 situation: WHEN
WE REQUIRE UNDERSTANDING TO ACHIEVE RESOLUTION, WE CALL UPON THE ASSISTANCE OF OUR EGOIC IDENTITY AND OUR THINKING MIND TO BE ACCOMPLICES IN OUR HEALING PROCESS.

There is a saying, We cannot correct anything with an error. Accordingly, we cannot extract ourselves from time-based consciousness by solely enlisting the assistance of our egoic identity and our thinking mind, mainly because they are manufactured from and

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attached to a foundation of time-based constructs; our behavior, our appearance, and our life circumstances. Instead of enlisting their assistance, we are instructed how to place our trust in our Inner Presence; that aspect of our identity operating beyond our time-based experience. We are encouraged to become vulnerable to it, to allow it to facilitate us through our process. It knows how to use our body, mind, and heart as tools to accomplish resolution without being used by them. It also knows how to use our behavior, appearance, and life circumstances to achieve these ends, and so transforms the erratic behavior of our egoic identity and our thinking mind into beneficial attributes. This is why understanding is not crucial. It is a useful tool. Throughout THE PRESENCE PROCESS we wield understanding as a means to comprehend why it is necessary to leap into our emotional abyss. Without the mental body there is no way to communicate the importance of this work, or to prepare us to enter it in a manner enabling us to facilitate ourselves. However, the adjustments to manifest real and lasting change to the quality of our life experience are only accomplished when we allow our awareness to depart the mental body and re-enter the emotional body. The root of our present day discomforts are emotionally-based. They are all traceable to energetic dysfunctions. They are not rooted in our thoughts or concepts; they are anchored in our feelings. As we move from childhood into adulthood these feelings are translated into thoughts and concepts, then into physical sensations and circumstances, which is the manner in which most of us now interact with them. We can use these thoughts and concepts as a bridge, as a mental passageway to travel from our outer physical circumstances into the energetic causal points of our discomforts. But to actively restore our balance we are required to feel. Feeling is the healing; this cannot be stated enough. Unless we allow ourselves to feel how out of balance our experience is, we cannot restore balance to it. It is therefore unnecessary to understand our suppressed issues to bring them to resolution. Talking alone does not accomplish resolution. Talking about our condition is not action; feeling our condition is action. Action comes from action. OUR
CORE ISSUES, WHEN LAID NAKED BEFORE US, ARE SPEECHLESS.

Our core issues are pure energetic expressions. We mentally label them grief, anger, or fear. When we actively release all labels, all concepts, and enter the feeling part of our journey, asking why, when, who, what, and where is meaningless.

12. An incident occurred at work today that was experiences like this always part of our processing?

upsetting. Are

Yes. There is an expression, We keep the unresolved issues we do not yet know how to deal with, and are not yet ready to look at, stored and hidden on our back between our shoulder blades. Why? Because, aside from the back of our head and neck, this is a location on our body we cannot scan with our own eyes. We can see almost every other place on our body except this spot. The only way we see this spot is when we stand with our back to a mirror, or when we ask someone else to take a peak there. It is the seat of the proverbial monkey on the back. This part of our body is also interesting for a number of metaphoric reasons:

IT REPRESENTS WHAT IS BEHIND unconscious to us now.

US;

what we can no longer see, and therefore what is

IT IS THE BACK OF OUR HEART CENTRE. Those who activate emotional body awareness and perceive the flow of energy tell us we receive love through the back of our heart centre and give it through the front. By means of this illustration, we may conclude it is our unresolved issues of the past blocking our ability to receive the love that is our birthright. Consequently, we experience lack in our life experience.

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IT IS IN THIS AREA OF OUR BODY THAT OUR WINGS ARE ATTACHED. We do not take flight as the powerful beings we are until we attend to our unresolved past, because these issues prevent us from receiving our divine inheritance; experiencing unconditional love. The experience of unconditional love gives us wings to fly.

While we cannot perceive our unresolved issues, it is challenging to attend to them. Yet our issues are often obvious to others. This condition is reminiscent of a prank children play on each other at school: They stick a note on someones back saying, Kick me! Everywhere the unsuspecting victim walks, others randomly kick them. It feels like an unspoken conspiracy in the eyes of the individual who is the brunt of the prank. It is only when the note is revealed, or when they see their back in the mirror, that the cause of their discomfort, the set up, becomes obvious. This is no different to what is going on in our life experiences when we operate in a time-based paradigm. Certain discomforts reoccur with regularity causing us to ask, Why does this keep happening to me? What we cannot see is we are walking around with a sticker on our back saying: According to the way I was treated as a child, I believe myself to be a victim. I am therefore only comfortable when I am treated as one. Please kick me for no reason at all. This sign is obvious to everyone but us. In the same light, we are able to point out anothers victim mentality without the faintest idea we are talking about the content of our own behavior. NOT
BEING ABLE TO PERCEIVE OUR OWN VICTIM OR VICTOR MENTALITY IS A PRE-REQUISITE FOR GOSSIPING.

This is why, in The Presence Process, we work with our outer world experience as a mirror. This reflective tool assists us to perceive the places in our awareness unconscious to us. We are taught to recognise these reflections in the mirror of the world as others behaviors and circumstances that emotionally upset us. By being brave enough to look deeply into these reflections, we turn our garbage into compost for emotional growth. This growth unfolds the wings enabling us to fly above the limitations of time and space and into the heavenly experience of present moment awareness. When emotionally upset by an event it is the world being a mirror, revealing unresolved issues that are surfacing into our awareness. By rising to the challenge and attending to these revelations, as we are instructed in The Presence Process, we open our heart and receive abundant blessings. We also remove the sticker from our back and enjoy a good laugh at the prank we played on ourselves. 13. Since commencing The Presence Process I feel claustrophobic around my partner, even though it does not appear to be because of anything they are doing? Why is this? The key word when attending to emotional processing procedures in close proximity to others is communication. It is not that we are required to communicate the intricacies of our process-work with others, because they may have no context in which to hold the information. But it is beneficial to communicate that we are going through changes triggered internally by our intent to resolve undigested experiences from the past, and that adjustments in our behavior during this experience are not because of our interaction with them. When communicating this to others, there is no benefit in entering a discussion about the validity of our intentions to do this work. Nobodys understanding of our necessity to do this work validates our participation in it. When we attempt to gain support, acknowledgement, or encouragement from others, we may experience being let down and becoming disillusioned. This caliber of input is to come from us and us alone. It is to be given to, and called upon, from our C.A.S.T. Our task is to alert others in close proximity that: Emotional processing means we experience moments of feeling angry, irritated, annoyed, confused, withdrawn, sad, depressed, etc. When we do have these experiences, it is not about them.

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These experiences are transient and always pass. When we are in the midst of these surfacing emotions, it is not appropriate to talk to us about it. If they are curious about what it is we are experiencing, they are to wait patiently until we re-enter a balanced state before engaging us in conversation.

We are also to follow these guidelines. When we are feeling deeply affected by our processing, it is not appropriate to enter discussions with anyone about anything! When we do, our words and mannerisms are coated with unconscious negativity. Because we are processing this experience through a structured and hence facilitated procedure, it soon passes for us, but the person we verbally expose to this part of our processing may continue to carry a residue of this encounter without the tools to consciously integrate it. When we are passing through emotional states arising from the trinity of fear, anger, or grief, we are not to discuss life changing decisions, make ungrounded assumptions about our future, verbal declarations about our outlook or circumstances to others. This talk is coated with emotional negativity drawn from the past events we are processing. Communicating these types of thought processes to our partner, or anyone close to us, spreads unnecessary anxiety and confusion. It unnecessarily triggers their unresolved fear, anger, or grief when they may not yet have the capacity for integration. Refraining from verbalizing to innocent parties during emotional processing is called practicing discernment and containment. The best way to facilitate those around us is therefore to communicate what we are doing, but not why we are doing it or how it is going; the why and how is nobodys concern. Also, discernment is necessary in picking the moment for communicating this information to them. As we process our unresolved emotions two circumstances unfold around us in relation to others who come in close and prolonged contact with us:

THEY

MIRROR THOSE ASPECTS OF OUR PAST THAT ARE SURFACING TO BE CLEARED, AND THEREFORE THE NATURE OF THE

ISSUES WE ARE WORKING THROUGH.

Men older than us reflect issues pertaining to our ability to guide ourselves. Women older than us reflect issues pertaining to our ability to nurture ourselves. Women the same age as us reflect issues pertaining to our ability to heal ourselves. Men the same age as us reflect life lessons we are invited to learn. Males and females younger than us reflect us at those ages. As far as our movement through The Presence Process is concerned, this reflective Process is only valid when we are triggered by their presence and become emotionally affected in what we perceive to be an uncomfortable way. BY BEING IN OUR PROXIMITY OTHERS ALSO PROCESS THEIR UNCONSCIOUSNESS. This occurs in those who are around us for extended periods. For example, those who sleep next to us at night. Because we are accumulating present moment awareness, they are facilitated into becoming increasingly aware. This occurs energetically; we become clear mirrors of their unresolved past issues. However, the difference between us and them is we choose to involve ourselves in a process enabling us to integrate our unconsciousness. They process unconsciously. This means they may go through periods of behaving unconsciously, exhibiting physical symptoms like colds, flu, fever, diarrhoea, vomiting, experiencing restless sleep patterns, and having emotional mood-swings. This is more pronounced in our children, especially when they are younger than seven. As we clear our childhood issues, it is not uncommon for our children to go through sudden and brief shifts including fever, diarrhoea, or vomiting.

As those in close proximity process let us not complicate matters by attempting to play the facilitator. Unless they ask, it is recommended we refrain from attempting to explain to them what is happening. They are facilitated by their Inner Presence. UNNECESSARY
INFORMATION IS INTERFERENCE; IT SPREADS CONFUSION AND ANXIETY.

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Let others go through their processing uninterrupted by our desire to help. Perceiving others issues does not give us permission to point them out or give unwarranted advice. This is the quickest way to cause a rift in a relationship and to open ourselves to a hellish experience that was supposedly paved with good intentions. If we are emotionally triggered by their experience, we are to see to our own emotions and not enter projective activity. A golden rule in The Presence Process, and during any emotional processing, is: DO UNTO OURSELVES AS WE WOULD HAVE OTHERS DO. Adhering to this rule keeps the peace in the most challenging circumstances. As far as why we specifically feel claustrophobic around our partner, there is a possibility of two circumstances unfolding:

WE

HAVE NOT COMMUNICATED CLEARLY TO OUR PARTNER THAT WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF AN EMOTIONAL PROCESSING

PROCEDURE.

By following the recommendations given in this discussion this sense of claustrophobia lessens. THE
MAJORITY OF BIRTHING EXPERIENCES INTO THIS WORLD ARE UNPLEASANT, AND CLAUSTROPHOBIA IS ONE OF THE

ENERGETIC RESIDUES OF THE EXPERIENCE.

This residue surfaces as we commence integration of our emotional body and may sometimes be reflected in the relationships around us. This is a reflection, not a reality. The feeling of claustrophobia is temporary. It is neutralised by The Presence Process.

Feeling a sense of surfacing claustrophobia is a beneficial development. Whatever we allow ourselves to feel, we allow ourselves to heal. 14. Is it possible that our emotional processing from our partner? causes us to drift apart

No. What attracts us to someone? On the surface we may assume it is their appearance, behavior, or life circumstances. This is what we are aware of during our initial encounters. However, when two human beings are attracted to each other there is a massive amount of unconscious activity at play. Much of this is energetic and relates to our emotional imprinting, our child self and its points of emotional incompletion, our unconscious definition of love (TPP/Pg 239). No matter how perfect some of us think our childhood was, on an emotional or energetic level, it is in some form or another left incomplete. This is because our essence, what we may also think of as our authentic identity, is by nature unconditional. What mirrors our unconditional essence for us when we enter this world? Who and what show us, through confirmation and example, who and what we are? Our parents and our siblings? This is unlikely. Unless our parents and siblings had their unconditionality mirrored for them, they do not have the capacity to mirror it for us. We cannot give away what we do not have. The consequence facing everyone when entering an experience of this world is that on a deep level, on an emotional level, we are traumatized from not having our unconditionality reflected back to us. This is not the type of childhood trauma an adult recognises from their mentally developed point of view. The type of trauma we are addressing here is something beyond our mental or physical awareness, although it is reflected in our mental and physical experiences; in our state of mental confusion and our symptomatic physical discomfort. It is also outwardly visible in our manifestations of drama; the dysfunctional way we externalise our emotional body. One of the telling signs we are traumatized by our conditional relationships with our parents is our desire to seek out and be with a partner. We may now believe this behavior is normal, that it is an instinctive impulse generated by nature to ensure we reproduce and our children have family-based support structures. We grow up in a world believing that marriage, the organized union of two people, is normal and necessary. Yet, as humanity evolves, the neediness we percolate within ourselves driving us to seek out a mate is and shall be shown to be a consequence of emotional immaturity. Our compulsion to partner up with another, to find someone to make us happy, to make our dreams come true, is born out of a sense of emotional incompletion imprinted within us during childhood.

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WHEN

WE ARE MAGNETICALLY ATTRACTED BY SOMEONES APPEARANCE, BEHAVIOR, OR LIFE CIRCUMSTANCES, UNCONSCIOUSLY WE ENCOUNTER WE BELIEVE WILL COMPLETE US.

ARE SEEING THE POSSIBILITY, THROUGH THE ENERGETIC PRESENCE OF THIS INDIVIDUAL , TO EXPERIENCE AN UNCONDITIONAL

They communicate this possibility to us by mirroring the presence of a similar incomplete energetic condition in their emotional body. This is transmitted to us emotionally, through their mental attitude, and through physical mannerisms. These cues give us the first outer signals that kindle the fire of our heated romantic notions. There is also a smell attached to emotion. Without realizing it, we are attracted to their smell because it is familiar to us, like an aroma of a specific food we are hungering for. Through the accumulation of all these signals they remind us of our incompletion. By reflecting the gaping hole in our emotional body they reveal what is to be accomplished within ourselves so that we may rediscover our inherent wholeness or holiness. We all know the romantic lines in songs or film dialogue proclaiming, You complete me, or You make me whole again, or You are my other half. This line of thinking is wonderful for fantasy, but deceptive when aspiring to authenticity. These are fanciful notions we entertain because we are asleep and experiencing a romantic dream. We are already complete and whole. We are born complete. Yet, while living in a time-based paradigm, we are mentally fragmented and physically externalised, and therefore require an outside presence to assist us in treading the pathway that returns us to an awareness of our inherent wholeness. This pathway always leads to the same realization: WE
ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR, THE ONLY ONE ABLE TO GIVE OURSELVES THE UNCONDITIONAL LOVE WE SEEK.

We do not arrive in this realization until we jump through a few emotional hoops. Some of these include falling in love. Therefore, we fall in love. But mostly, we fall. We always fall because: ROMANCE
IS A CONSEQUENCE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY.

When we fall in love, we unconsciously see everyone reflected in the object of our desire; from our parents to ourselves. We see everyone except the person who is standing in front of us. Love in time is blind. Love in time is also predictable; while we operate in a timebased paradigm we move through phases as we awaken from the illusory veil romance initially casts upon us:

INITIALLY, ALL WE PERCEIVE ON MEETING THE PERSON THAT ATTRACTS US IS A experience lasts until a short period after our honeymoon. AS

POTENTIAL LOVE RELATIONSHIP.

This

OUR INVOLVEMENT CONTINUES, AND THE REALITIES OF MARRIED LIFE UNFOLD, WE START SEEING THE SHADOWY

REFLECTION OF A FAMILIAR FIGURE:

OF OUR MOTHER OR FATHER, OR A COMBINATION OF THE TWO. We may not be conscious that this is happening, we may simply begin feeling irritated and annoyed by their presence. This is when the romance experiences a flat tire, because who chooses to bed their parents? Initially, that we are attracted to the reflection of our parents is challenging to perceive. This is because our companion does not physically look anything like our parents; the similarity is in the emotional resonance we experience when in their company. This familiar emotional resonance is also challenging for us to recognize, because when we live in time, our attention is transfixed by the surface attributes of our encounter with them; we perceive our attraction to them as something to do with their outer behavior, appearance, or life circumstances. THE NEXT STAGE IS SEPARATION, DIVORCE, OR LIVING IN QUIET DESPERATION. The only way to overcome or override this stage is if we move onto the next stage. WE CHOOSE TO AWAKEN OURSELVES (NOT OUR PARTNER) FROM THE ILLUSIONS OF THIS DRAMA. This unfolds when we embrace the challenge to grow by looking deeply into what our partner is reflecting by consciously entering the emotional processing procedures that integrate childhood imprinting.

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THE

FINAL STAGE IS WHEN WE ACCUMULATE ENOUGH PRESENT MOMENT AWARENESS TO REALIZE THAT WHAT WE ARE

TO IN OUR PARTNER IS A REFLECTION OF OURSELVES. We honor them accordingly, unconditionally, and this transforms them from being our partner to our companion. ATTRACTED

This is why women symbolically wear a veil at the altar, so neither in the marriage party sees out of or into it, until it is too late! Once this veil is lifted and we realize what is unfolding, we either use this opportunity to evolve emotionally, to manifest a life experience of quiet desperation, or we divorce and enter the dance again. When we choose to divorce, we inevitably recreate the same scenario. It initially manifests as a different set of physical circumstances, but it always exposes us to the same incomplete emotional resonance. This is why marriage, as the institution we know it to be, is failing. We already know it does not work. It is doomed because we are evolving emotionally. Once we perceive this unconscious romantic dance, we do not fall for these experiences anymore. Our emotional evolution is awakened and accelerated by The Presence Process. The consequence is our relationship with our partner undergoes a shift. This does not mean our relationship with them is over; it means it is evolving. As we accumulate present moment awareness, one of our realizations is: We are where and with whom we are supposed to be. While the majority of our attention is externalised, we are always standing in front of the most appropriate mirror for our evolution. It is a massive mistake to assume that by turning away from this particular mirror, or trading it in for a new one, we solve anything. It is not about the mirror; it is about the reflection. Until we do the work enabling us to turn inward and perceive ourselves, we require an outer mirror. As we journey through The Presence Process, we become aware how our partner reflects our unresolved issues. Our task is not to change them, but to observe, witness, and work with the information they reflect. The Presence Process instructs us how to use this information to enter our emotional body. It is here we initiate the adjustments. By adjusting our own emotional body we initiate a journey enabling us to complete ourselves. Our perception of our partner then begins transforming. The more we resolve within ourselves, the less our partner is called upon to reflect our parents and our own emotional incompleteness. The more we unconditionally accept, acknowledge, and validate ourselves, the less we need or want this from them, or anyone else. The feeling we experience as we enter The Presence Process that we are drifting apart from our partner is inaccurate; we are unravelling the illusory identity we bound them in. We are consciously lifting the marital veil. As we accomplish this, they transform from our other half to our chosen companion. This is wonderful. Initially it may feel uncomfortable, but we are not to be concerned. Until we allow our companion to be who they are, which we accomplish by embracing our own authenticity, we cannot experience authentic intimacy with them. Intimacy is an interesting word. Phonetically is says, Into me and see. This is a clue. As a species we are evolving emotionally into a state of being where it is more comfortable to be self-contained. This does not mean it is necessary to wander this world alone. When we choose, we may invite a companion to walk with us, talk with us, embrace us, and laugh with us. But for this relationship to be authentic, unconditional, and evolutionary, we must attend to our emotional growth so that we do not need or want another to feel complete. We choose the companionship of another from a point of completion. We become our companion before inviting them to walk with us for a while on this endless journey. They are not a means to an end. This approach to relationships births an opportunity for us to share the unlimited possibilities of unconditional love with another without relying on them to provide that opportunity. 15. Is it possible that our emotional processing behave differently? causes our children to

Yes. Experiencing this is normal and beneficial. It is one of the consequences of a parent attending to emotional processing. The Presence Process in its essence is about taking care of the emotional component of our behavior, about the state of our inner child and how this impacts our adult self. (TPP/Pg 174 & 180) The child within us is the keeper of our emotional

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body. Restoring balance to our emotional body requires becoming the compassionate keeper of our inner child; the activation of our inner parent. Inner child work is the task of rescuing our child self from the past by restoring our awareness of it and the role it plays in the quality of our experience. Until we accomplish this, it is metaphorically dead to us, and therefore so is any authentic access to our emotional body. When our child self is dead to our awareness, and when we then proceed to have children of our own, it continues to live hidden within them via the process of reflection and projection. Until we integrate our childhood, our own children remind us of ourselves when we were their ages (reflection). This process of reflection is not obvious in a time-based paradigm as it is not necessary for our children to look or behave like us to accomplish this. This reflective relationship is energetic; each time they upset us emotionally, it is because they are reflecting us. This reflection triggers us into reactive behavior. We then begin projecting; behaving around our children like our parents behaved around us. Therefore, just as we turn our lovers into our parents, we also turn our children into us, and, our children then turn us into our parents. OH
NO,

HAVE BECOME MY PARENTS!

The Presence Process unravels this maze of unconscious reflection and projection by enabling us to re-enter the emotional body, our child-like awareness, where we initiate the following adjustments: WE RELEASE OUR OWN CHILDREN FROM REFLECTING OUR UNRESOLVED CHILDHOOD. By re-establishing our own authenticity, our outer children also become authentic.

WE

RELEASE OURSELVES FROM PROJECTING BEHAVIORS ONTO THEM LEARNT FROM OUR PARENTS INTERACTION WITH EACH

OTHER AND TOWARDS US.

We are therefore released from becoming our parents.

WE

OPEN THE DOOR TO AN EVOLUTION IN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR CHILDREN; THEY ARE ABLE TO BE OUR BROTHERS

AND SISTERS IN SPIRIT.

In Truth this is what they are.

This is why a perfect barometer of success in emotional processing is the extent to which our children stop triggering us, shadowing us, and are able to transform into their own possibilities. As their behaviors re-adjust and they awaken to their authenticity, they often adopt behaviors unfamiliar to us. They appear to behave like little strangers. We start perceiving what was hidden or camouflaged by our reflections and projections. This shift is their blossoming into authenticity; a gift we give each other. This is why they come through us. 16. Can our emotional processing cause our children to experience diarrhea and vomiting? Yes. Until we choose to accumulate present moment awareness, we are living in a paradigm called time. In this paradigm there is a past and a future, but there is no present. This lack of presence causes a break or a blind spot in our awareness; we cannot perceive the unified flow of energy through all our experiences because the only place energy in motion is discernable is in the present moment. This blind spot therefore causes perceptual fragmentation, separation, and segregation. Without experiential access to the unified energy field of the present moment we cannot perceive how the different parts of humanity interact as a unified whole. It therefore becomes possible for a Christian to believe there is no role for a Muslim in their world and an Asian to believe there is no place for Europeans, or vice versa. In a fragmented, separated, and segregated state of being it is also possible for us to believe that: No death takes place in our experience when a particular species of animal becomes extinct. Our digestion is not affected when a life form suffers to become food on our plate.

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Our ability to hear natures communications to us is not deafened when we set off fireworks that hurt the hearing of millions of living creatures.

This perceptual cavity of awareness, as is demonstrated through our insensitivity, judgment, and lack of conscience, are the fruits of poor present moment awareness. On a more intimate level, when we lack present moment awareness, we are blind to the intimate interaction taking place between our own physical, mental, and emotional bodies; we are unable to perceive that what is occurring in the one is always reflected in the other. For example, if we bang our knee, we are inclined to think it is an accident; an event happening in isolation from all other events within us and in the universe around us. We are not able to perceive that our thoughts and emotions at the moment we bang our knee are intimately connected to the occurrence of the physical event. This is the fragmented condition we suffer from when we live in time. TIME-BASED
CONSCIOUSNESS IS THE ULTIMATE

DIVIDE

ARE DIVIDED WITHOUT.

AND CONQUER EXPERIENCE; WE ARE DIVIDED WITHIN AND THEREFORE WE

Subsequently, when we bang our knee, we do not realize we are simultaneously entertaining negative, repetitive, and hence self-destructive thought processes. This is because in time our thought processes mostly flow unconsciously. We also, though we express ourselves emotionally at the time of the incident, do not perceive that our negative and repetitive thought processes are gripped by an emotional resonance that is fearful, angry, or tainted with grief. As we accumulate present moment awareness it becomes evident that the physical event of banging our knee is inseparable from our thoughts and emotions, and without exception, from all outer circumstances unfolding in our life experience. Nothing in this universe occurs in isolation; the banging of our knee is part of a unified experience. It is a deliberate moment intimately orchestrated by everything that is. Another example of this interconnectedness is demonstrated through the procedure of fasting. When fasting, three experiences unfold prior to entering the intended state of enhanced well-being: Our physical body eliminates toxins. We experience mental confusion. We enter emotional turbulence.

These three experiences are one and the same. This inevitable sequence of events unfolds because the physical particles in our body called toxins, that we are intending to flush from our system by fasting, do not exist in isolation. Every physical toxin in our body contains a mental and emotional component to it. WHATEVER
WE FEEL AND THINK AS WE PREPARE AND CONSUME FOOD IS IMPRINTED INTO THE FOOD. TO THE EXPRESSION,

THIS

BRINGS NEW MEANING

WE

ARE WHAT WE EAT.

This integrative perception explains why we go through a powerful mental and emotional experience when fasting. By depriving ourselves of food we are also intimately affecting our mental and emotional condition. This is why it is important to fast consciously and responsibly. Fasting as a reaction to our life experience causes added suffering and trauma because it is perceived by our inner child as punishment. Fasting when approached as a response to our life experience is the act of using our physical body as a catalyst for making adjustments to our mental and emotional condition. It is to be approached with the resonance of compassion, nurturing, and gentleness. How does this relate to the experience of vomiting and diarrhoea sometimes witnessed in our children as we move through The Presence Process? Because we are facilitating ourselves through this emotionally cleansing procedure using the physical, mental, and emotional tools of The Presence Process, this cleansing

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experience unfolds consciously for us. Therefore, when our emotional body shifts, especially as it is prone to during Sessions 7, 8, and 9, we are already physically, mentally, and emotionally trained and therefore prepared to absorb the impacts. As occurs in fasting, we may experience these energetic adjustments as mental confusion and physical discomfort. We may experience diarrhoea and vomiting. This is nothing to be concerned about. We are to respond to our body with compassion; it is detoxing to realign itself with the shifts having taken place in the emotional body. As discussed in the previous question, those in close proximity to us, especially our children, will also process their unconsciousness as our energy body experiences shifts. Our children, however, are not going through a gradual, facilitated procedure; they do not have the opportunity to ease this shift by attending to a breathing exercise, saying Presence Activation Statements, reading present moment awareness literature, and making conscious mental transitions using perceptual tools. Consequently, their experience of this energetic shift is compressed. As their emotional bodies make these adjustments, they too experience brief mental confusion, eruptions of emotional drama, and physical expressions of letting go like vomiting and diarrhoea. As the heat from their emotional body is released they may also manifest symptoms like a sweaty fever. None of these symptoms last long, and once they pass, there is a noticeable adjustment in their state of being; they are more loving, joyful, secure, and present with us. This mirrors the adjusting circumstances of our own inner child. The real facilitator of The Presence Process is our Inner Presence. It does not allow anyone to be hurt by what they go through as we shift the condition of our emotional body. We are not to be concerned in any way that our children may be emotionally scarred by the diarrhoea, vomiting, fever, or sleepless nights they experience. These conditions unfold as gifts to liberate them as gently and efficiently as possible and are facilitated in every moment by the most compassionate energy in creation. These experiences come as a blessing. In the healing ceremonies of the Native American Church they call vomiting getting well. IN
THE WORLD OF TIME WE LIVE BACKWARDS; WHAT WE REGARD AS SICK IS US GETTING WELL, AND OFTEN WHAT WE REGARD AS A HEALTHY IS THE ART OF SUPPRESSING OUR SICKLY CONDITION.

The energetic relationship between parent and child during any procedure of emotional processing is a sacred agreement; there is no place in this experience for fear, blame, and guilt. Fulfilling these agreements neutralizes generations of suffering, opens the doorway to authenticity, and cultivates peaceful interaction within our human family. PLEASE NOTE: WE ARE TO USE COMMON SENSE WHEN OUR CHILDREN EXPERIENCE THESE PHYSICAL, MENTAL, AND IF THEY ARE STRUGGLING WITH THE TRANSITION, WE ARE ALWAYS TO APPLY MERCY OVER SACRIFICE. IF THEIR SYMPTOMATIC CONDITIONS PERSIST, CONTACT A MEDICAL PRACTITIONER. SOMETIMES OUR BODY REQUIRES ASSISTANCE THROUGH THESE SHIFTS. OFTEN THIS ASSISTANCE IS IN THE FORM OF SLOWING DOWN THE SHIFT THROUGH THE USE OF MEDICATION. USE COMMON SENSE. DO NOT ACT OUT OF FEAR. BE DISCERNING.
EMOTIONAL SHIFTS.

17. What is happening when we experience extreme bouts of distraction? Our predicament in time is we are distracted. We are just not aware of the extent of it. Living in time is the art of functioning in a distracted state. When we operate in a time-based paradigm the majority of our attention is consciously and unconsciously anchored in the past or the future. Only a fragment of our awareness shows up in the present moment, just enough to keep us alive and ticking over. This is not living, this is called existing. As we accumulate present moment awareness, we perceive most human beings as wandering about as if asleep in a dream. It is a wonder cars are not piled up on every street corner. Most of our experience behind the steering wheel is not spent in the drivers seat; we are already in the office, still discussing something with our spouse, or telling our children what we expect of them. We are making future plans and mopping up past regrets. We are everywhere and anywhere, except in the drivers seat. In the modern world most of us operate in this state of distraction. In this state we raise families, operate large machinery, run large corporations, and countries. As we enter The Presence Process, experiencing distraction is a state of being that appears to start occurring. Yet, it not starting to occur; through the procedure we are gaining

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awareness of our current state of unconsciousness. The paradox is, to overcome this distraction, we go through the experience of feeling like we are losing control. This is because it is our attempt to control the future, based on our perceived experiences of the past, which causes our habitual state of distraction. Therefore, as we become aware of our distracted state, and begin actively awakening from it, the experience is perceived by us as a loss of control. One of the important perceptual shifts we undergo during The Presence Process is gaining the ability to perceive our experiences as they are, and not as we think they are. For example, as we enter present moment awareness, we discover that when we are in pain, it is not because something bad or wrong is happening; it is our body is using physical sensation to bring our attention back into our physical form so that we can compassionately attend to ourselves. We then realize sickness is healing occurring unconsciously. We discover that while we are still operating in a time-based paradigm, what we call health is usually a state of being in which we lack awareness of our current physical, mental, or emotional conditions; we control or sedate our inner condition to the extent that we are no longer aware of it. This lack of ability or willingness to feel our authentic inner condition is the real sickness, the real confusion, and the real insanity. Our continual state of distraction in a timebased paradigm is therefore what authentic ill-health is. Yet, we perceive it to be the opposite; when our body, mind, and heart do whatever is required to bring our suppressed conditions to the surface of our awareness, so that the presence of our attention can integrate our various states of inner disease, we react as though something terrible is happening. We then do everything in our power to stop what is unfolding, and call the consequence of the reactive behavior we use to stop our awareness of our inner condition, getting better. This is insanity. THE PRESENCE PROCESS heals this perceptual malfunction. By mastering its teachings we close the doorway to distraction and open ourselves to alertness, awareness, and presence. WE WE WE
CANNOT BE FOUND UNTIL WE REALIZE WE ARE LOST. CANNOT REGAIN CLARITY UNTIL WE REALIZE WE ARE CONFUSED.

CANNOT OPEN OURSELVES TO ANY TRUTH UNTIL WE ENTER A STATE OF NOT-KNOWING.

Realising how distracted we are is part of our journey into regaining present moment awareness. When we feel distracted, we are asked to witness the condition; to be with it in a state of observational awareness, with compassion and patience. We gently say to ourselves, Look how distracted we are today. This is interesting. Then we carry on with the day. Becoming aware of our level of distraction is a blessing. It is progress. It is one of the doorways we pass through into present moment awareness. 18. How do we explain our involvement in The Presence Process to our family when they are not comfortable with this type of activity? We do not. It is unnecessary to explain to anybody why we choose to connect our breathing for 15 minutes twice a day, read present moment awareness activating literature, mentally repeat a Presence Activation Statement, or wield certain perceptual tools internally. Why involve anyone else in this? This is our inner work. Any outer demonstration of it, whether verbally or through our actions, is an indication we are seeking acknowledgement or validation from others for doing it. WHENEVER
WE TELL SOMEONE ABOUT OUR INNER WORK WE ARE TALKING TO A PERSON WHO CANNOT ASSIST US IN ANY WAY AND DISEMPOWERING THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN; OURSELVES.

Entering The Presence Process as a means to gain acknowledgment or validation from others causes the consequences of this work to be temporarily hidden from our own awareness. Why? Because as long as we entertain the whims of the ego and the thinking mind, we cannot enjoy the awareness of our Inner Presence. WE
CANNOT EVOLVE THROUGH APPLAUSE.

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The challenge many of us face when we enter The Presence Process is we have no point of reference for what inner work is. In this world we are conditioned to tell everyone what we are up too, how it is going, what our plans are, what we have achieved, etc. We keep nothing to and for ourselves. This is because we do not yet know the value of containment and discernment. This is also because we cannot yet distinguish the difference between Life and living, and therefore we do not know the difference between building on a rock, and building on sand. Let us use the door opened by this particular question to gain some clarity on the difference between Life and living, because if we are to realize any progress through our inner work, at some point we are required to become clear on this distinction. Step back from thinking of the word Life as a means to describe all the outer physical, mental, and emotional experiences we are having while in this world. Instead, we now use the word living, or the term life experience, to describe our outer life experience. From this point in the text we are now asked to embrace the word Life, written capitalized, as being defined as: The inner essence which is expressed through, and sustains all aspects of this world, but is not visible by observing them. Life is what leaves the body when a life form is declared dead. In this respect, the Life we are talking about is 100% causal, whereas living or our life experience is an effect of the presence of Life. Once able to perceive this distinction, we also perceive clearly, that by its example, this world intentionally entrains us to place all our attention on living, on our life experience; it is oblivious to Life. Throughout The Presence Process, it is an awareness of this inner essence called Life that we are seeking to awaken to. We seek to accomplish this awareness through the development of an authentic relationship with our Inner Presence. We set out to accomplish this not by outer doings, but by laying an inner foundation that invites a state of being in which this essence comes to the fore. This is why THE PRESENCE PROCESS states that our Inner Presence is the platform we are required to reach to catch the train called Life. Our Inner Presence is a go-between, keeping the living linked to Life, and is therefore able to direct us into the authentic experience of what Life is, and therefore of who and what we are. Everything we involve ourselves in as part of our intent to accomplish this task is called inner work. Many gradients of inner work exist, but viewed in simplicity, inner work begins with taking responsibility for the quality of our life experience, and then evolves into an opportunity to embrace the sacred mystery of Life itself. Therefore, we may initially come to THE PRESENCE PROCESS because of uncomfortable outer conditions, but as we explore the procedure experientially, we become vulnerable to and hence aware of a necessity to awaken to and explore our inner terrain. Inner work does not commence consciously until we comprehend that having an inner terrain is a possibility. This is the paradigm shift THE PRESENCE PROCESS ushers in; one in which we are encouraged to access the power to affect the quality of our life experience from an inner causal point, not from the outer rites, rituals, and inanimate objects of the outer world. When we muster the strength of will to explore our inner terrain, we inevitably come to the following realization: THE
WORLD OF THE LIVING, IN ITS VARIED AND WONDERFUL MANIFESTATIONS , CANNOT BECOME MORE FOR US THAN A SHADOWY EXPRESSION OF

LIFE.

The world of the living does not have a vocabulary equipped to communicate what Life is. Our experience of living here in this outer world is therefore limited to a dancing metaphor of what Life is; a metaphor alluding to the Presence of Life, but one that only assists us to dance around Life, not into it. The Presence of Life is expressed through our appearance, behavior, and our physical, mental, and emotional circumstances, but cannot be known by observing these. These outer expressions are the shifting sands upon which Life leaves its elusive footprints. We know it is here, present among us, as us, fuelling the rhythms of the living, but yet by dancing with the living we cannot authentically feel its embrace. IF
WE SEEK TO KNOW

LIFE,

WE HAVE TO EMBARK ON A JOURNEY LEADING US DEEPER INTO OURSELVES, NOT FURTHER INTO OUR OUTER EXPERIENCES.

When we place all our attention upon the outer expressions of the living, when we choose to invest all our energy in transient objects, when we accumulate all our wealth amongst them, we are setting ourselves up to lose everything, because these sandcastles are

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washed away by the tides of time. Sandcastles are those aspects of our experience we show to and share with the world. Whatever the world sees of us is turned into sand, and is therefore blown away in time. Therefore, if we place all our emphasis on these transient things, if we give them all our time and energy, what do we have when this particular life experience passes? Nothing. Then it is all for naught. Then we harvest nothing real and lasting from the gift of our life experience. Then our life experience is wasted, because we spent it all on the living and invested none of it in the pursuit of Life! If we cannot yet separate ourselves from our experiences, this entire discussion may be confusing to us. It may read like a nest of contradictions. Surely, we may say, the whole point of being in this world is to live? Maybe, but maybe there is much, much more to this gift than we have yet unwrapped. What we are asked to consider is that there may well be another possibility for us being alive that just living it up. There may be a specific reason for being here, one hidden from us by the hustle and bustle of the outer world. By being in this world we have to live. We may live to the full, or barely subsist. But the nature of being in this world is we automatically live. When we do not live, we die. Therefore living cannot be our soul purpose for being here, because it happens anyway. How we live, and what we strive to become while we are alive is where the door remains wide open to the curious. One of the gifts awaiting us within the experience of The Presence Process is the possibility of awakening to a massive realization: THERE
IS MORE TO

LIFE

THAN LIVING.

Living in a time-based paradigm is mostly taken up by a continual state of doing. Surely there is far more to the experience of being in this world than all our endless doings? While we do not consider any alternatives to the expected version of living that this world feeds us from birth, we are seduced by conditioning into externalising every aspect of our experience into endless outer doings. The consequence of becoming doing-worshipers is we are habitually driven to need and want the world to evaluate every aspect of our progress, to acknowledge us, and to confirm that our life experiences are valid. In a time-based paradigm, it is accepted and expected that we tell and show everybody everything that is happening to us. Many of us require the worlds acknowledgement just to confirm that what is happening to us is real. How many of us need to phone and tell someone the second something significant happens in our lives? How many of us can sit with a wonderful experience, and contain it, and have that be enough? Containment is challenging for us because the world does not teach or reward this behavior. We cannot know what Life is in this state of continual externalisation because although the essence of Life is outwardly expressed, it cannot be shown or told; Life is within. By behaving like this we are setting ourselves up to waste all our time and energy. This is because whatever the world acknowledges, whatever we show it, whatever we place into it, whatever time and energy we pour into it, dies to us. The eyes of the world are the eyes of the grim reaper. Everything in this world is sentenced to death by being in it. Therefore, the living aspect of our experience always dies to us. Yet, through this all, Life lasts forever. Why? Because Life is within us, it is an inner experience and therefore remains unseen and untouched by the outer world. What is contained within us and kept hidden from the world as sacred cannot be touched by it. The grim reaper cannot decay or destroy what it cannot see. This is a big secret, one of the biggest. This is why the practice of containment and discernment are noble to the soul. What we keep within, we offer to our soul. By externalising ourselves completely while we are here, our soul leaves this experience impoverished. WHAT
PROFIT A MAN TO GAIN THE WORLD AND LOSE HIS

SOUL?

The challenge of entering this world is therefore to live in a manner in which our harvest is something more than another unconscious death experience. An unconscious death experience is when we live in a manner in which our death renders the entire contents of our experience unconscious to us when we birth into our next life experience. If we cannot remember our past life or lives right now, it is because we experienced an unconscious death before we entered this one. As a consequence, we do not have conscious access to any of the

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experiences we gained during those encounters with the living. Unconscious death births mortality-consciousness. What is the point of continuing like this, of navigating ourselves into another unconscious death experience? Why do we not question this predicament, or do we accept that this is how it is supposed to be? Who said this is how it is supposed to be? Have we considered the possibility of experiencing a conscious death? Have we considered the consequences of accomplishing this?
ASK.

WE

MAY ASK ANY QUESTIONS WE CHOOSE TO.

QUESTIONS

ARE CAUSES, ANSWERS ARE EFFECTS.

OUR

LIFE EXPERIENCE IN ANY GIVEN MOMENT IS DETERMINED BY THE QUESTIONS WE

LET

US THEREFORE ASK BIG QUESTIONS, THE BIGGEST.

Our challenge is to live in a way in which we enter an authentic experience of Life. To accomplish this we are to use our life experience to die to the illusions of this world that distract and blind us. We are to live to die; to die to the hypnotic dance of the living so that we may awaken to the radiant song of Life. No greater quest exists than to seek out a real encounter with Life while we are living. Is there a greater intent for a mortal human being than to taste immortality while still in the flesh? This awesome intent is the metaphorically misunderstood Quest of The Holy Grail. Anyone who succeeds in drinking from The Grail Cup, The Chalice of Life, does not taste an unconscious death experience again. This accomplishment is not a myth; this is our authentic human purpose, our divine destiny. This is why we are here; to summit The Mountain of Life. Not to build sandcastles to impress this ever-changing world, but to build upon a rock that places our feet upon an eternal footing. This is the game of Life; a game played by the living. The paradox of it all is: WE
CAN ONLY EXPERIENCE WHAT

LIFE

IS WHILE WE ARE LIVING, BUT NOT BY LIVING.

We accomplish this by not becoming wrapped up and smothered in the outer expressions of Life. Instead, we track these outer expressions to their Inner Source. All physical, mental, and emotional aspects of our life experience are the outer expressions of our connection to Life, and therefore are the tips of pathway into Life itself. But they are the pathway, not the Inner Source we seek. When we become caught up in them, when we become too involved in the physical, mental, and emotional components of our life experience, they become like quicksand and swallow us up into another unconscious death. This is why understanding The Pathway of Awareness (TPP/Pg 40), and how to use it to steer ourselves into our Inner Source, is important. To taste Life we are required to return along this energetic pathway, from physical to mental to emotional, finally to re-enter the reality of the vibrational realm. We are to accomplish the feat of standing with our feet in the physical, mental, and emotional world, but our awareness simultaneously merged into the vibrational. This is the meaning of being in the world but not of it. We can only achieve this feat while we are living, because it is while we are in the world of the living that we have access to this entire Pathway of Awareness. When we only occupy an emotional (astral) and/or mental (causal) dimension, as do countless Souls, we cannot quest for The Grail. Then we cannot summit The Mountain of Life. To accomplish this we require a physical body to anchor our Inner Presence, a mental body to navigate our attention, and an emotional body to fuel this ultimate intention. Without these three bodies intact we cannot achieve this rebirth into vibrational awareness. This is why it is believed in eastern wisdom that the angelic beings of the heavens cry for a human form. An angelic being, as beautiful and as powerful as it is, has no access to a physical body. Therefore it cannot accomplish departure from the confines of the physical, mental, and emotion mind matrix/creation. This is why humans are considered the highest of life forms, as spiritual royalty within creation, the very top of creation. We are the only life

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forms in our known universe endowed with the complete outer and inner Pathway of Awareness, equipping us to journey beyond the confines of this creation, enabling us to return to the Source of all Life. We are also the only life forms on this planet able to practice the behaviors essential to this intent; containment and discernment. The angelic realm may only serve those of us making this quest until they, themselves, are granted the gift of a human birth. Yes, angels do evolve into humans, just as we humans who spend our entire lives doing good deeds, instead of seeking Life, also evolve into angels. Eastern wisdom claims we have transmigrated in and out of these physical, astral, and causal realms millions upon millions of times, yet since the birth of this particular creation, none of us, except Perfect Living Masters, have yet to leave the confines of the mind-matrix we are in. We have therefore been here since the beginning of time. This truth dismantles our egos attachment to the notion of some of us being old souls. According to eastern mythology, all souls were created simultaneously. Through accumulation of good deeds, we have all spent long periods in heavenly parts of this creation, and through accumulation of negative activity, we have also spent long periods in less attractive accommodations. Yet, we have always been here, since the beginning of time. Despite residing in heavens, hells, and paradises, sooner or later we re-enter the game of Life. We come here to play the game in hopes of overcoming the unconscious death experience and winning the ultimate prize: Life eternal. The way to stop this endless cycle of coming and going is to win the game, to drink from The Chalice of Life, once, just one sip! This is what Jesus was metaphorically referring to when he told the woman at the well that the waters of the well may quench her thirst temporarily, but the water He offered her would quench her thirst forever. He was calling on her to navigate her experience towards Life, and not to keep wasting it on the endless outer distractions inherent in living. Because our attention is now so externalised, we believe The Grail exists somewhere out there, or that it is a fanciful myth. Yet, it does not, is not, and cannot be found in the outer world. We are The Grail chalice seeking to be filled with the Elixir of Life. Camelot waits patiently within us. All that is living, every aspect of creation, alive or inanimate, is supported by this Elixir, yet none of us may drink from it unless we enter The Sacred Temple within our physical body. It is on the altar of our Inner Temple that this Chalice is realized and filled. It is by going within that we drink from it. Finding this inner altar that alters ourselves requires we initiate the practice of inner work. Inner work requires great discipline. It requires dedicated routine; the conscious and consistent charting of a route in to ourselves. Inner work requires we embrace the gift of living as a means to re-enter the Reality of Life; that we use the opportunity of living in time to focus our attention and intention on building our fortress of experience on a rock of permanence. This means we are required to set aside time daily to chart our way into ourselves. This is our secret work. This is something we cannot share with the world, because when we do, our efforts turn to sand. When it comes to inner work, a golden rule is: WHATEVER
WE PLACE IN THIS WORLD IS SAND AND IS WASHED AWAY IN TIME. FOREVER.

WHATEVER

WE PLACE WITHIN OURSELVES LASTS

Among its many applications, The Presence Process is also an invitation to open our awareness to the necessity of inner work, and to learn what it is experientially by giving ourselves the opportunity to practice it. To clear the way for us to commence this sacred journey, we are most welcome to inform those living in close proximity that we are initiating a procedure of self-examination or self-improvement. We have already discussed ways of approaching and accomplishing this. However, it is unnecessary to explain the mechanics of our processing to another, or what we are experiencing as a consequence of our practice. This level of discernment and containment is what makes it our inner work; our sacred treasure. It is nobodys business but ours; it is our personal relationship with what God is for us. It cannot profit anyone else at to know about it, and it can only impoverish us when we reveal it. Understandably the ego and thinking mind resist this entire arrangement, because initiating inner work slowly transforms the ego and thinking mind into their potential attributes; it gives birth to determination and focus. Initially, in this world, our breath is the most tangible connection between what Life is and the experience we are having here called living. Our breathing is an energetic thread

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leading from the one to the other. This is why we use it as our primary tool for re-establishing our relationship with our Inner Presence, why it is called the breath of life, and why there is no experience for us of living without breathing. Aside from authentic felt-perception, breathing is the purest expression of what Life is in the world of the living; it is everywhere, we share it, it is invisible to us, and without it we cannot be here NOW. It is therefore a means to commence the journey inward and upward, enabling us to access the rock of permanence whilst we are living in the pit of shifting sands. It therefore benefits us well beyond our present comprehension to spend some of our allotted living time each day connecting our breathing. This simple practice starts bringing the reality of the rock of Life into focus. The Presence Activation Statements, reading materials, and perceptual tools serve to support this intent. All the procedures shared with us throughout The Presence Process are gentle introductions to inner work. To share them indiscriminately with others who have no context in which to relate to them is of the ego and the thinking mind. It wastes our time and energy. When another, by observing the adjustments in our outer life experience, expresses an interest in experiencing the changes they are witnessing in us, we may direct them to the book, THE PRESENCE PROCESS. After that it is best to stand back and allow them to initiate their own choices. When their intent to experientially enter The Presence Process comes from within, it is of great benefit to them. No one else may join us in our endeavour to access the inner rock of permanence, for they are of the living, and all who are living in our experience of the world die to us. But they may commence a journey into their inner access to the rock of permanence, and by accomplishing this, join us forever in Life. To be able to distinguish between Life and living, and to then act accordingly, is the treasure chest the prodigal children awaken to in the present moment. This realization is one of the many blessings inherent in The Presence Process. Inner work is our intent to use our attention and intention while we are here, NOW, to open this treasure chest and receive our divine inheritance. 19. Is it necessary to hide our processing from conservative in their religious viewpoint? people who are

No. As is made clear in the previous answer, it is unnecessary to hide it, or to reveal it. Sometimes, because of our own backgrounds, when we enter The Presence Process, we assume we are participating in some type of religious or spiritual procedure. This is an incorrect assumption. THE PRESENCE PROCESS is not religious or spiritual; it operates from the perspective that there is no point of reference for a spiritual experience in this physical, mental, and emotional world; accordingly, it does not claim to be one. It is a common sense physical, mental, and emotional procedure for anybody seeking to take responsibility for the quality of his or her life experience. It is about exploring our potential of our humanity while we are moving through the experience of this world. We do not use wands, crystals, adopt ancient postures, pray to idols, or chant secret mantras. Outwardly nothing is going on here that is religious or spiritual. Along the way we may quote spiritual teachers past and present. This is because of the relevance of their teaching with regards the philosophies of this work. It is unlikely that many of the historical personalities now attached to present day religions or spiritual movements regarded themselves or the nature of their work as religious or spiritual. It is more likely they were individuals who became aware of the limitations of the human condition in a time-based paradigm, and through experimentation within themselves, sought to liberate their human life experience form this predicament. They then shared their discoveries with their communities. It is only through time that their discoveries and teachings became adopted by present day religious organizations. WHEN BUDDHA LIVED HE WAS NOT A BUDDHIST. WHEN JESUS LIVED HE WAS NOT A CHRISTIAN. Religion, by its nature, is a product of, and a mind-set confined to, a time-based paradigm. What makes a religion a religion is that the object of worship is historically based and therefore dead to the present moment. A religion is a mind-set that believes in someone who existed in the past, who may again exist in the future, but who is not physically, mentally, or emotionally available right now. Under these circumstances, the followers are

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deprived of authentic access to the object of their affections; instead they are directed to a book and asked to believe that the experience of physical death is the doorway to meeting their mysterious Messiah. This arrangement means a religion cannot tell us anything about the authentic experience of the historic figure it is worshipping. Religions tell stories and conjure up interpretations, most of which are based on hearsay. This is why all religions declare that whatever book they hand out to their followers is supernaturally compiled, because this is the only way to persuade us to substitute a book for a real living, breathing Presence. This arrangement also enables a religion to legitimise using a priesthood to be a divinely elected conduit to connect us with their particular version of God. In depriving us of the responsibility to chart our own inner journey towards a real connection with God, religion ends up entertaining idol worship; it is an idle approach to communing with God. To relate to the experiences of, and to understand the teachings imparted by the historic personalities of any religion, and to initiate the journey enabling us to experience the same caliber of intimacy with God as they did, it is necessary to enter present moment awareness, because it is from this level of consciousness these great humans made the utterances that are the religious teachings of today. It is understandable that those not yet ready to perceive the failings and inadequacies of this ongoing time-based societal drama may perceive these observations offensive. It is therefore recommended we refrain from preaching present moment awareness, or attempting to convert others to common sense. FLOWERS BLOOM WHEN THE CONDITIONS ARE RIGHT, NOT A MOMENT BEFORE. What may be most threatening to another, to our companion, or to the group mentality our family may be dependent upon, is that what we attend to in The Presence Process, we attend to alone. This may cause others to feel threatened, or uncomfortable, because it awakens their awareness to the predicament of being dependent on the company of others to feel at ease. By entering The Presence Process we are breaking away from this self-limiting scenario. Our intent, which is to take full responsibility for the quality of our life experience, precludes the participation of another in our process. Those who are dependent on the opinions of a group for their physical, mental, and emotional well-being may think we are selfish, or secretive. This is because until we are ready to awaken from a time-based paradigm, it is impossible for us to understand the real meaning of selfishness. SELFISHNESS SELFISHNESS IS SELFISHNESS
IS IGNORING THE PREDICAMENT THAT WE ARE INDIVIDUALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE QUALITY OF OUR OWN EXPERIENCES. BREEDING AND MAINTAINING DISCOMFORT IN THE WORLD BY EMBRACING A VICTIM OR VICTOR MENTALITY. IS LIVING WITH A CONSCIENCE NUMB TO THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR THOUGHTS, WORDS, AND DEEDS.

It is not selfish to enter an activity facilitating us into becoming present and available in our life experience; accepting responsibility for being is selfless. It is never necessary to lie about what we are doing; there is however a call upon us to be discerning and to practice containment. Discernment and containment are the right use of our energy. It is unnecessary to tell someone we are breathing twice a day. We are to attend to this practice in a manner best serving our intentions; alone and unseen. When we display these practices publicly they no longer contain the power to be our inner work. They become fodder for the agenda of our collective human ego and the thinking mind. This is what occurs in our traditional religions; the collective human ego takes our sacred inner practices and flogs them on the public altar via dramatic outer displays. Religion externalises everything sacred so it is no longer useful as a means to access an authentic inner relationship with Life. Instead, the collective human ego turns our inner jewels into tools for accumulating power, prestige, and political positioning. It takes the word sacred and turns it into the word, scared. Subsequently, whenever we enter any activity sacred to our individual evolution, others become scared. This intent, to externalise inner tools for the purpose of outer distraction, is the agenda of the collective human ego, not because it is evil, but because its purpose it to maintain the world, not to facilitate us in awakening from it. It serves its purpose impeccably. Overcoming the opinions of the collective mentality is a rite of passage for all who seek to awaken to authentic will. It is an obstacle purposely placed in our way.

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It is clear to anyone who activates an authentic relationship with their Inner Presence that outer religious activity publicly displayed is by its nature castrated of efficiency. It no longer contains power to activate authentic inner movement and therefore is no longer considered inner work. To display our inner work to others turns it to sand. Our inner work, as with sacred practices before being harnessed by religious agendas, is about initiating and maintaining our relationship with that which is invisible to this world. Therefore, our efforts to activate this relationship are also required to be invisible to the world when they bear fruit. This is common sense when we enter a frequency of authenticity, but it remains hidden when our intent is to worship the living, to further the agenda of the collective human ego, and to uphold and buy into the promise of another unconscious death; of Life eternal in paradise or heaven after death. It is unnecessary to wait to be sabotaged, hijacked, or ambushed by death before we may enter the wellspring of Life. It is unnecessary to do anything outwardly; instead we become something inwardly. Accordingly, Life remains an unseen stranger amidst public displays of prayer, rites, rituals, dogmas, and ceremonies. These outer activities are for the benefit of the living. These usher us like sheep into yet another experience of unconscious death. Life, while we are here in this world, is experienced and known through practices honouring the trinity of silence, stillness, and invisibility. When we enter a discussion or debate about the relevance of The Presence Process with others who are obviously, because of their religious predisposition, against this activity, we are to blame for our lack of discernment and containment. We are, on some level, looking for attention, validation, a reaction, revenge, a reason to be right, or to feel superior. BETTER TO LOVE THAN TO BE RIGHT. BETTER TO BE SILENT THAN SUPERIOR. BETTER TO BE INVISIBLE THAN CLEVER. We are therefore called upon to become strong enough to let the petty needs of the ego die of neglect. No benefit exists in launching an attack on the specifics of anothers religion. How is this of assistance to anyone? Our attack causes them to defend their stance. What else do we expect them to do? It is better to let others practice what faith they have in a manner most comfortable to them. At least they experience faith in something.

THE

SMALLEST GRANULE OF FAITH IS A SPARK BIG ENOUGH TO KINDLE THE BLAZE OF

TRUTH.

The depth of our faith and the way we practice it is determined by our level of life experience. Until we transcend our known experiences, we do not open ourselves to a more evolved means of spiritual curiosity. By attacking anothers religion, what we are doing is attempting to push them from the foundations of their faith. This is foolish. It is better we, through our example, live in a manner aligned with the integrity of our own convictions. This is challenging enough to accomplish without attempting to question and interfere with the convictions of others. Let us therefore not use The Presence Process to show off our supposed spirituality; this is not a spiritual Process. The Presence Process, because it is an inner journey, is an individual journey. Its intent cannot be accomplished through group activity. It is not a religious or spiritual activity, and therefore does not warrant being tossed around in any religious debate. A wise teacher once stated, It is unnecessary to lie to our parents, or to tell them everything. Integrating this teaching gives birth to the practice of containment and discernment. Successful practice of these behavioral traits is a feather in the cap of our blossoming emotional maturity. 20. Can this Process cause us to lose our appetite for meat? Yes. While we live in a time-based paradigm, we cannot easily perceive the connection between cause and effect. This is because this connection unfolds in the energetic activity of the present moment. The connection between cause and effect takes place NOW. One of the side-effects of not living in the present moment is that we are, for the most part, devoid of conscience. When we do wield our conscience it is usually motivated by belief systems and mental concepts, not by felt-perception. Felt-perception is only possible NOW.

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An expression from the Native American culture asks: How does what we do now affect the seventh generation after us? This particular perspective on living in this world is an example of one embracing the conscience of consequence. This perspective is the natural approach of any being or community entering present moment awareness. On the surface it may appear this approach is focussing on what is happening in the future, but this is not its intent at all, instead it is actively bringing greater awareness to the consequences of what we are doing NOW; it endows our present moment activity with conscience. The indigenous communities existing upon this planet prior to industrialization did not occupy the mental plane exclusively, as many of us do now. They accessed it as a tool for navigation, decision making, and the passing of knowledge along to their children. They left us enough evidence to show that when accessing the mental plane, they wrapped their intents in visual symbology through art. This ensured an emotional and physical component to their mental activity. Therefore, they maintained an integrated resonance throughout the activities of their communities; they lived in balance. For the most part, indigenous humans lived in the present moment, and so they acted out of conscience. The Bushmen of Southern Africa are a good example of this. These communities may consider the seventh generation in their activities, but they certainly do not have a seven-year plan. They live their future in the NOW. Their future is already happening for them, not something in the distance they wait. Therefore they move through their world gently, so that the ongoing consequences of their actions bring no harm to the greater whole. They practice the adages, no one goes anywhere, wherever we go, there we are, and we are our investors as much as we are our ancestors. Theirs is not a belief in reincarnation, as much as it is in the ongoing transmigration of our Soul; the awareness of our Eternal Presence, of always being here, NOW. We cannot perceive our life experiences in this manner while we operate in a time-based paradigm that worships beginnings and endings and approaches every activity as a means to an end. As we journey into present moment awareness, and increasingly channel the flow of our awareness into this world from the emotional body, the energetic connections between what we cause and the effects already set in motion are perceived by us. This is because it is through emotional body awareness, through felt-perception, that we perceive the intimate connectedness of energies in motion. Another way of communicating this shift is saying, Activating emotional body awareness opens our heart centre. Our heart centre is the kingdom of our conscience. Mental activity alone contains no conscience. Because our heart centre is the keeper of our conscience, it is therefore the doorway to entering consequencementality. Acting on behalf of the seventh generation NOW is to function from consequencementality. It is the intent of a community anchored in a heart-space; in emotional body awareness. It is not about mentally planning for the future; it is about feeling the future NOW through felt-perception. Because reawakening our emotional body awareness is a reconnection with the energetic flow connecting us to everything, this shift enables us to see beneath the surface of our life experience, and beyond the borders of what we may consider to be our individual experience. This seeing is not like x-ray vision; it is heart-felt vision. When we reawaken emotional body awareness, one of the automatic consequences is our seeing capacity transforms from being just an intake of physical/mental information, to also being accompanied by a feeling component. The physical/mental information component and the feeling component combine to form a singular integrated resonance, which we call knowing. We also call it integrated perception. Zen Masters and Buddhists also use the words insight (in sight) or seeing deeply to describe this integrated perceptive ability. As we enter present moment awareness, and hence activate emotional body awareness, we therefore attain the capability to look at something and know about it by seeing it fully, or as the Buddhists describe it, by seeing deeply into it. HUMAN
BEHAVIOR BECOMES DESPICABLE WHEN WE CANNOT SEE INTO OUR LIFE EXPERIENCE, AND HENCE INTO THE LIFE EXPERIENCES OF OTHERS.

CAPACITY OPERATES AT THE LEVEL OF BEING A MECHANICAL PHYSICAL/MENTAL INFORMATION GATHERING PROCEDURE, WHEN IT IS CONDITION WHILE WE OPERATE IN A TIME-BASED PARADIGM; OUR OBSESSION WITH OUR THOUGHTS AND PHYSICAL CIRCUMSTANCES EMOTIONALLY BLINDS US, AND THEREFORE WE ARE PRONE TO BE DESTRUCTIVE AND INSENSITIVE . DEVOID OF ANY FEELING CONTENT, AND HENCE ANY KNOWING.

WE

BEHAVE DESTRUCTIVELY AND INSENSITIVELY TOWARDS OTHER LIFE FORMS WHEN OUR SEEING

THEN

WE PERCEIVE THE WORLD ROBOTICALLY.

THIS

IS OUR

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As we reawaken to emotional body awareness we evolve from looking at the world mechanically, and are able to see it again. This shift in perception changes our relationship with everything entering our experience, and especially with the food we see on our plate! Once we initiate this perceptual shift, we no longer look at a piece of meat on our plate as an inanimate object, whose soul purpose is to bring pleasure to our palate; we perceive the whole process this individual soul endures so we may take its life for pleasure. The meat entering our mouths today travels along a different energetic pathway than it did to our ancestors. Firstly, unless they lived in places like Iceland or Siberia, less than 10% of their diet was meat. Nowadays, on average, more than 70% of a meat-eaters diet is meat. Also, the meat our ancestors ate was not from creatures imprisoned and farmed for pleasuregratification. It did not pass through blood-soaked slaughter houses that today boast the highest rate of employee suicide of any economic endeavour. The meat we eat today is not given to us by our Mother, but taken, genetically manipulated, and treated with a level of insensitivity that is shameful when felt. Meat today is an energetic salad of fear, misery, cruelty, hormones, vaccinations, and souls enduring living conditions replicating concentration camps. HUMANS WHO BELIEVE ANIMALS ARE NOT SOULS ARE MEAT-EATERS; A BELIEF BORN OF CONVENIENCE AND DENIAL. We are able to eat meat because we do not yet operate from felt-perception. However, on an energetic level, we do feel the effects; meat-eating is one of the contributing factors to humanitys state of physical, mental, and emotional dis-ease. It is common knowledge that the medical bills of a vegetarian are more than 70% less than meat-eaters. Today meateating, as seen through the eyes of our soul, is barbaric cannibalism inflicted on our brothers and sisters because we cannot hear them; because we do not listen to our own hearts. Yet, because we are hypnotized and conditioned from birth by the examples of our parents, communities, religious groups, and the insensitive profit margins of commerce, we cannot perceive this. This knowing of what we are doing to ourselves, as activated by combining physical/mental information and feeling, therefore may temporarily spoil our appetite and our digestion. This shift in our perception tags our previously mindless pleasures with the resonance of consequence, and therefore with the resonance of conscience. Initially, based on what the world teaches us to believe, it may feel as though our fun is being spoilt. It is necessary, at this point, to define what we mean by the word pleasure when we use it in the context of our intent to enter present moment awareness. When we speak of a pleasure from the point of present moment awareness, we are referring to the uncontrollable or driven behavior to interact with and rely on anything from the outside world to artificially manufacture a sense of inner emotional harmony. Unlike joy, which is a state of being radiating from the inside outward, a pleasure causes us to rely on a state of mind in which it is necessary for us to pull a specific experience towards us from the outside. Until we reactivate emotional body awareness, we cannot perceive and hence know the role and consequence of the pleasures in our life experience. Yet, as we gain the ability to see deeply into our activities, it is obvious that spending our time and energy seeking pleasure from this world, and relying on these outer objects or experiences for our continued sense of well-being, is disempowering, reactive, and self-destructive. When we perceive this, we then do whatever is required to release ourselves of these illusory crutches. We only debate, defend, or procrastinate the eradication of a pleasure from our life experience while we still cannot perceive and hence know what these attempts to take a short-cut to joy are depriving us of. The moment we perceive them for what they are, these pleasures no longer give us any satisfaction; they become as empty as we once felt when we initially required them to feel complete. THE
MOMENT WE LEARN HOW TO SATISFY OURSELVES EMOTIONALLY, WE DO NOT REQUIRE THE WORLD TO PLEASE US WITH ITS SENSUAL TRINKETS.

The collective group mentality of the world cannot perceive a pleasure for what it is. It cannot perceive a pleasure as disempowering. Instead, pleasures are perceived as part of our reward for being here, as what living is about. Therefore, the opportunity to chase them, to indulge in them, to become addicted, attached, and possessed by them, are perceived as symbolic representations of our worldly success.

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CANNOT YET SEE BEYOND THE TRANSIENT SURFACE OF THIS WORLD, REMOVING THEIR PLEASURES IS LIKE ROBBING A VICTIM AND VICTOR OF THE OPPORTUNITY TO CAST BLAME.

TO

A SOUL SEEKING TO SUMMIT

THE MOUNTAIN

OF

LIFE,

THE SIMPLEST OF PLEASURES BECOME AS POISON.

TO

A SOUL WHO

IT

IS INCONCEIVABLE.

Let us take the overeating of food as an example of a specific pleasure-prison. Many of us who claim food to be one of our pleasures to the point we declare openly, Oh, I could not live without my food! When we are in this state of mind we cannot imagine life without a fridge in it. Though we declare outwardly that food is our greatest pleasure, inwardly we are involved in a constant battle with our eating habits. Inwardly we are seeking ourselves in our food. We are disturbed by the weight we gain, our calorie intake, blood pressure, cholesterol level, poor physical appearance, and inability to physically move around in this world comfortably. Yet, in spite of the continual suffering we experience from our obsession with food, we still refer to it as one of our pleasures. We may be told by qualified professionals that our relationship with food it harming us, destroying our physical vehicle, and we may read countless books on the subject. Yet, until we cleanse our emotional body, activate emotional body awareness, restore our ability to see the consequences of this so-called pleasure, we do not experience the conviction required to act in our favour; we are not able to stand up for ourselves. Until we make this inner shift we continue to be possessed by the food in our world and no amount of mental understanding or physical discomfort assists us to eradicate the pull of the fridge on our attention. When we gather the strength and courage to awaken to our self-destructive behavior by transforming our entire lifestyle and maintaining a path of action leading us beyond our pleasure-prison, it is not because we have physically or mentally comprehended our predicament; it is because we experience a shift in emotional body awareness. Once this is accomplished, our transformation is effortless. An integrated transformation in our perceptual ability activated by a shift in emotional body awareness elevates our behavior beyond actions that are morally driven. It delivers our behavior beyond the mental justifications of what is wrong or right. This inner shift is way beyond polarity-mentality. When this inner shift occurs it delivers our actions well beyond needing the foundation of reason. Just as no reasoning persuades us to take life-transforming action when we are not yet ready to do so, such as abstaining from meat-eating, once this internal emotional shift occurs, no reason dissuades us from our new tide of intent. When we are evolving beyond animalistic behavior, beyond the base urges of lower mind, one of the shifts is that we no longer seek flesh for pleasure. Our choice to abstain from eating meat is not the outcome of some debate or discussion. This shift is beyond campaigning for animal rights issues, beyond seeking the meaning of life, pitting of right against wrong or anything at to do with the nutritional requirements of the human body. It is the consequence of seeing through eyes that now feel, and hence know. It is because we activate the experience of felt-perception.
ADJUSTMENTS WE INITIATE INTO OUR BEHAVIOR.

WHEN

WE ENTER THE EXPERIENCE OF FELT-PERCEPTION, WE NO LONGER SEEK TO JUSTIFY, DEFEND, DISCUSS, OR ADVERTISE ANY

WHEN

WE SEE AND THEREFORE KNOW, WE NO LONGER EXPERIENCE APPETITE FOR

OUTER VALIDATION.

To become a vegetarian because we think it is the right thing to do is inauthentic. This stance does not last. It is usually adopted as an outer behavioral display designed to attract attention. When we think our way into vegetarianism, our outer circumstances can always shift in a manner as to shake us off our moral pedestals. Thinking justifies taking a life for the pleasure of the palate as easily as it justifies saving a soul from this fate. Not eating meat because we think it is wrong is an action devoid of substance and hence one that cannot stand up to the test of time; this inauthentic mental stance is automatically challenged by the world and requires ongoing defence. It is the same as wearing white clothes because we need or want to appear spiritual. White clothes do not make us spiritual, and nor does abstaining from meat make us a good, or a nice person. HITLER
WAS A VEGETARIAN.

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According to eastern mysticism, which may be considered as the sister science of our western Quantum Physics, the choice to be a vegetarian does not hinge on the concepts of good or bad; it hinges on tattwas, the Sanskrit word for elements. According to their ancient eastern life form classification system: Vegetables and fruits contain the element water. Insects contain the elements air and fire. Birds contain the elements water, air, and fire. All animals contain the elements earth, water, air, and fire. Humans contain the elements ether, earth, water, air, and fire.

In the practice of mysticism, which is the intent to enter vibrational consciousness while still in the human body, disciples are instructed to lighten themselves vibrationally by only placing that which contains the element water into their bodies. Intake of foods containing any of the other elements are said to cause our frequency to become too complex for us to comprehend the subtleties of the vibrational realm. There is another aspect to regaining emotional body awareness and the subsequent experience of felt-perception that also causes us to abstain from the intake of certain foods. Felt-perception is another way of describing integrated perception. Once we achieve feltperception, the benefit of activating physical presence through our connected breathing is known; we are acutely aware of the effects of our bodily intake. What a shift into emotional body awareness does for our seeing capacity, it also does for the clarity of our mental comprehension of our bodily sensations; it opens our awareness to mentally integrating the communications being sent from our physical body. We may feel uncomfortable for years and yet not do anything about it. However, the moment we initiate the perceptual shift into emotional body awareness and function from the causal point of our experiences, the signals we receive through our physical experience take on a new dimension. For example, the feeling of being full, which in a time-based paradigm is interpreted as the comforting feeling of being satiated, is now no longer registered by us as a sense of satisfaction; it transforms into an experience of bodily discomfort, into a cry for assistance from the body. This cry for assistance registers clearly in our mental and emotional body; a muffled physical sensation previously perceived by us as being satiated is now a broadband broadcast of digestive distress. Consequently, not eating meat may become unpalatable to us. Eating foodstuffs like pasta, or rich foods, whether they are vegetable-based or not, may become uncomfortable to us as well. As we gain emotional body awareness, we discover that eating large portions of anything is uncomfortable. Consuming large portions of pleasurable rich foods may be tasty and comforting when we are in self-sedation pleasure-seeking mode, and of course this is one of the reasons why we eat them, but as we awaken from the desire to be sedated, we discover that healthier, lighter foods are more delicious to us. It is as though a perceptual mist clears enabling us to hear and understand the communications coming from our body. For example, when we live in a time-based paradigm, we do not know we have eaten sufficient food until we feel full. Yet, when we enter present moment awareness, we know we have eaten sufficiently because the actual taste of the food in our mouth changes; it looses its initial deliciousness. This is the bodys means of communication with us that it has taken in enough. Yet, until we experience a certain level of physical presence, mental clarity, and emotional body awareness, we do not notice the shift in the change of the taste of our food. We remain deaf to the voice of our body. Eating for the pleasure of it, especially when this entails ingesting large portions of everything, is the consequence of reacting to the discomfort we feel in our emotional body; it is a distraction and a sedation tactic. Being driven uncontrollably to seek pleasure from anything in the outer world is the consequence of inner emotional discomfort and is a quest we entertain as long as we operate in a time-based paradigm.

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This does not mean we must now eat cardboard, or we are not to enjoy our food! Eating food is enjoyable, especially when we lovingly prepare and share it. Food prepared with Presence and shared with colourful company and conversation is a blessing. As we enter emotional body awareness we naturally discover that the consequence of choosing to eat fresh, living foods is delicious, healthy, and that the state of the energetic vibration we experience from eating them allows us to more easily maintain and enjoy a sense of physical presence, mental clarity, and emotional well-being. Meat takes up to 12 hours to digest and pass through our system, has to rot to be digestible, and provides us with less energy than our body uses to digest it. This is why we feel sleepy after eating these foods. They rob us of present moment awareness by sapping us of physical presence, mental clarity, and emotional well-being. All meat is vegetable matter previously eaten and digested by another life form. Each time the vegetable matter is eaten and digested into anothers body it loses life force. By the time living vegetable matter is transformed into dead meat the life force it contains is minimal and requires so much energy to be accessed that consuming it adversely affects us; instead of endowing us with added life force, the process of digesting it robs us of our own life force. EATING
THE DEAD STEALS

LIFE

FROM US.

It is also recommended not to become fanatical about these matters. Fanaticism is reactive behavior, and is therefore founded on emotional immaturity. Clear thinking combined with an open heart leads us into beneficial, responsive action. The whole approach to The Presence Process is: We do what we are asked to, and no more. By following the instructions we receive throughout the procedure, we are able to activate present moment awareness. As this shift in our experience unfolds, we automatically gravitate towards some experiences and away from others. There is no trying to do this and trying to be that. When, through the awakening of our emotional body awareness, we learn to perceive beyond the instant gratification of food, we know that eating a leg of lamb is no different from eating the leg of our cat or dog. Our thinking mind convinces us a difference could exist. When we listen with our heart, we receive a different message than is heard when we entertain the reasoning of our thinking mind. Who said we eat lambs, but are friendly to cats and dogs? We did. Our thinking mind did. Why? It is most likely because it is more convenient, and in this day and age, financially lucrative. A lamb is defenceless, contains softer flesh, and is easier to mass-produce. Start eating cats and the cats leave. They also put up a fight! Lambs on the other hand scream pitifully and go down without any resistance. As long as we keep them out of sight and earshot, we may conveniently pleasure ourselves with a good roast. We therefore justify these choices; we keep the little lambs out of sight and ensure not to give them any pet names. Then, we allow ourselves to perceive them in a different form; as an inanimate chunk of flesh in the supermarket refrigerator. We behave like this because we are selectively blinding ourselves and therefore devoid of the conscience of consequence. When we have to slaughter our evenings little lamb in the back yard, we consume less meat. Therefore, for most of us, eating meat is not authentic behavior; it is conditioned and convenient behavior. It is done for the sake of pleasure and not necessity. Chimpanzees also enjoy the pleasure of hunting, killing, and eating meat, though it is not essential for their dietary requirements. Like us, their cannibalistic behavior is done out of pleasure. Unlike us, they cannot develop the capacities of containment and discernment. Their excuse for being predatory is they are still animals. What is ours? What are we? And what are we intending to become? For many of us, The Presence Process begins changing much of the landscape we once accepted as normal. This is because the moment we feel, we also become real. There is no nutritional necessity for human beings to eat animals on this planet. The plant kingdom contains everything we require for our evolution, not only that, but eating from the plant kingdom does not impede our evolution towards vibrational awakening; eating flesh does. No meat-eater makes it beyond the borders of the living and into the heart of Life. No meat-eater encounters The Inner Grail. No meat-eater summits The Mountain of Life. This is because Life is never tasted as a consequence of causing unnecessary death. An integrated adult knows this beyond any necessity for debate or discussion. By entering emotional body awareness we feel the difference between eating a piece of baby lamb and a tomato. We do not require

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scientific studies to tell us how we feel. We only require science to validate our pleasureseeking when we seek to mentally justify our insensitive actions. If evolving beyond the limitations a time-based paradigm is not our intention, then accepting responsibility for the quality of our life experiences is of no significance to us. This does not mean we are not accountable for our actions; it means we are not yet emotionally aware enough to accept responsibility for them. Unfortunately, not being emotionally aware does not negate the consequences of our actions. The law of cause and effect does not discriminate. It is divine, unfaltering, equalizing, and eternally just. CONSEQUENCE
IS NOT ABOUT RIGHT AND WRONG; IT IS ABOUT OUR ACTIONS AND THEIR EFFECTS.

As we move through The Presence Process, we begin instilling our actions with the conscience of consequence and blessing our life experience with harmless intent. As a consequence of felt-perception, of awakening our conscience, we emerge from the many nightmarish behaviors of living in a time-based paradigm. Subsequently, we choose to stop eating others flesh. Is it normal to choose to cease this behavior? Truly, only our hearts experience the answer. 21. What is happening when we discover that since entering this Process we are unable to tolerate alcohol in our body, even in small doses?

As we move through The Presence Process, we may discover an increasing intolerance for alcohol is also a natural consequence of our regaining physical presence, mental clarity, and emotional balance. This is because through integrated perception we taste our experiences as they are, and not as our mind is conditioned to perceive them. Why do we drink alcohol?
For nutritional purposes? Because it is the only way we know how to relax and experience fun? Because it sedates our anxiety? Because it tastes good? Because this is what the world does to celebrate? Because this is what is required to loosen us up? Because this is the way we bypass the emotional roadblocks preventing us from feeling relaxed amidst strangeness? Because we are conditioned since childhood to accept this behavior as socially normal, and in certain circumstances, necessary?

How many of us drink alcohol in certain situations because we are afraid that if we do not others perceive us as party-poopers? How many of us drink alcohol in certain situations because we are afraid of making others feel uncomfortable, or because in the business world this is how things are done? How many of us stop for a moment and question why we would put a substance like this into our mouth? Anything, even if it harms us, is classified as good by the mind when we do it often enough. This is because the mind identifies what is good through familiarity and repetition. Plenty of other beverages exist on this planet that taste delicious, so we do not drink alcohol for the taste of it; we acquire a taste for it. Like the unpleasantness of our first cigarette, our introduction to alcohol was most likely one in which we skewed up our face because it did not initially please our palate. But we persevered because of the example set for us by our parents, family, friends, because of perceived peer pressure, and because we wanted to be grown up.

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To the children of this world, being an adult is perceived as being allowed to sit in public amidst friends with a drink in one hand and a cigarette in another. Our family and the media convince by their example that this is a rite of passage into adulthood. So the fact that alcohol tastes like gasoline does not deter us; we want more than anything to be adult because we perceive this as a doorway to personal freedom. Through repetition the taste of the various alcoholic beverages not only becomes familiar, and hence defined by the mind as good, but the ritual of social drinking also becomes associated with an acceptable sedated state that enables us to camouflage our authentic emotional condition. Many now implicitly believe alcohol loosens us up by removing the challenging edges of our daily grind, that it momentarily liberates us from the ego by removing our shyness, enabling us to break the ice in uncomfortable circumstances, warming us up to others whom we do not know or enjoy being with, enabling us to grin and bear circumstances that are unpleasant or uncomfortable when sober. HOW
DOES A SUBSTANCE ENABLING US TO BEHAVE FALSELY LIBERATE US FROM THE EGO?

This is a prime example of drunken logic. Instead of helping us to grow up, alcohol use breeds an emotionally immature society. Alcohol appreciation is the ultimate example of the power of societal conditioning; what once tasted repulsive and caused us to feel disorientated and often ill, is redefined by the mind as pleasurable, as a source of comfort. If we spend an evening with someone, and wake up in the morning to discover that they have hit us in the face, it is unlikely that we feel drawn to their company again. Yet the hangover is forgotten the moment the bottle is opened; this is the power of conditioning and selective thinking. Once we experience alcohol as pleasurable, the only experience that can undo this state of mass hypnosis is entering present moment awareness through physical presence, mental clarity, and emotional balance. As a species we conjure up endless excuses to justify why we drink and drug ourselves daily with alcohol. Using our selective thinking mind, we cleverly and conveniently legitimise alcohol use and conveniently separate it from other so-called addictive substances. We then look down upon those substances, calling them illegal drugs and their users, addicts. In this way we are able to side-step the issue of our mass addiction to alcohol. We also do everything in our power to dignify its use; we create beautiful wine farms and design elegant labels to adorn the ornate containers we bottle it in. We subliminally equate this drug with quality, progress, and excellence, by manufacturing exclusive brands affordable by the most successful of our species. Through film, television, and print media we concoct an entire lifestyle around its consumption, and support this sophisticated illusion with unrealistic advertising. This is all a lie that we tell ourselves to legitimise our addiction. WE
ONLY REASON WE DRINK ALCOHOL IS BECAUSE IT ALTERS OUR EXPERIENCE IN A WAY THAT TEMPORARILY INCREASES OUR SENSE OF PLEASURE.

Because of our emotional impotents, because we cannot naturally access our authentic state of joy, or spontaneously express our appreciation for being alive, we also cleverly associate alcohol use with celebration; this drug is now a necessary ingredient to bless our moments of accomplishment. It is a means to toast the good things in life. It now appears normal and socially necessary that when something wonderful happens, we bring out the champagne, or else it is not a celebration! We use it to toast the good things in life. Yet, what are the good things in life that arise from alcohol use? To perceive what these are requires lifting the veil off the idyllic desert island upon which the carefully chosen group of perfectly proportioned, gorgeous models toast their vacation in commercials. This manufactured image is not at all the consequence of drinking, it is a lie. More than not, the fruits of the vine are devastating on the human condition. Imagine a member of our community whose reputation is a paradox. On the one hand everyone speaks of them acceptably, with admiration and appreciation, because they are present during celebrations, birthdays, moments of personal and societal accomplishment, and do, with ease, oil any discomfort during social gatherings. Their presence is regarded as the great ice-breaker. Naturally, we enjoy the company of an individual like this and are glad of their participation at our gatherings. However, what if the presence of this same individual

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is also a catalyst for continual tragedy, for death, destruction, and the depraved distortion of human behavior? What if the presence of their spirit in our community is a catalyst for failing kidneys, teenagers killed in car wrecks, Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, beaten wives and children, broken homes, irresponsible business and political decisions, crime sprees, sexually abused children, violent rapes, bar fights, and entire communities sedating themselves to the point that they are unable to move beyond the sorrow of their poverty and despair? Do we still welcome this individual into our midst just because they have a knack of breaking the ice? Do we allow them to reside in our neighbourhood? Do we spend billions every year promoting them to the world? No, of course we do not. Yet we do. Again, it is the selectivity of the thinking mind that enables us to justify the presence of this destructive spirit in our midst. Why? Because the thinking mind tells us that the destructive shadow cast by its presence will not touch us. If we drink alcohol it already has. Beyond the manufactured glamour associated with this mind-altering substance, there is no way to camouflage the bitter fruits of this religious beverage. Yes, alcohol is its own religion. ALCOHOL
IS A GOD IN THIS WORLD AND ITS SPIRIT IS WORSHIPPED BY MORE OF US THAN ALL THE OTHER RELIGIONS PUT TOGETHER.

EVEN

SOME OF OUR RELIGIONS WORSHIP IT AS A BLESSING.

Alcohols temples are in every small town and on every city corner, where its worshippers gather eagerly to partake of this intoxicating communion. Its diligent priests stand behind their altars and, for a fee, decant a liquid benediction that temporarily saves us from our woes and insecurities by drowning our sorrows. We build altars to it in our homes, dedicating rooms to its presence, creating places of homage to it in antique cupboards and basement cellars. In the evenings and on weekends we gather together, an obedient congregation, often around fires and over animal sacrifice, to alter ourselves in the name of this spirit. This god goes hand in hand with flesh-eating; for each type of meat there is a flavour of spirit blended to douse the palate and sedate the senses so the authenticity, and the true horror of the experience, cannot be known. Unless we are prepared to look deeply into our own behavior around this substance, we cannot perceive all of this as it is. While our emotional body awareness is shut down, the consequences of the worship of this spirit remains hidden to the congregation. Because of our own weaknesses, we look the other way when this presence sacrifices the life experience of another. While we are prone to holding a glass of alcohol in our hand, we cannot admit to ourselves that there is nothing authentic or vaguely constructive that comes out of the bottle. It is only when we accumulate present moment awareness and reawaken emotional body awareness that we experience the courage and ability to see deeply into our own relationship with this possessor. Then we realize we drink because of the deeply suppressed discomfort in our emotional body, because of the energetic trauma caused by being an unconditional being born into a conditional world. We perceive and accept that we are selfmedicating under the illusion that this assists us to feel better. We also perceive that all drinking alcohol accomplishes is to prevent us from feeling anything authentic at all. When we awaken ourselves from operating in a time-based paradigm, it is obvious that society cannot assist us to feel better; it can only offer us the opportunity to selfmedicate. Consequently, millions of us on this planet live lives of quiet desperation. Even though this self-medication practice gradually shatters our life experience into jagged splinters, we continue to hold onto it. This is the spell of alcohol: It transforms us into becoming demons outwardly instead of facing the demons haunting us inwardly. Every one of us who drink alcohol is in this predicament to some extent, and therefore we stand back and silently witness the self-destruction left in its wake. We say nothing about it while we drink it. Instead we offer it to others, gathering drinking companions to justify our own allegiance to it. With believable concern in our voices we say, Do not drink too much, or Do not drink and drive, or Do not drink until youre 18. Or, the most paradoxical of all, Always drink responsibly. As we accumulate present moment awareness it becomes obvious the real tragedy of alcohol use is not the car accidents, the broken homes, or the reckless political and corporate decisions. These occurrences are sandcastles being broken before the inevitable wave of time washes them away. They, our outer life experiences, are not real in the true sense of the word; they are a passing show. The only thing that is real for us while we are interacting with

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this world is our experience and awareness of the present moment. It is only in the present moment, not tomorrow or yesterday, that we can touch what Life is. When we accumulate present moment awareness we realize and appreciate how precious the opportunity to be present is. This realization reveals the real tragedy of alcohol use: When we drink alcohol we are saying, I do not accept the state of awareness I am now experiencing. I therefore choose to alter it. Or, I do not choose to be here, now, in this particular experience. I prefer this moment be different. Let us be honest with ourselves: The purpose behind all alcohol consumption is to alter our experience. To claim we drink because we appreciate the taste, or that a glass of wine with our meals is good for our heart, are the weakest of excuses to hide behind. In the context of present moment awareness, alcohol consumption is the act of hiding. Are we brave enough to come out of hiding and admit this to ourselves? It is impossible to enter an authentic experience of what Life is unless we achieve 100% presence. It is impossible to consume alcohol and remain present. As we become thirsty for present moment awareness one of the fruits of di-vine is we no longer tolerate anything in our body that physically, mentally, or emotionally causes our awareness to enter inauthenticity. Every time we allow this substance into our body we deny ourselves the opportunity to experience authenticity. It is that simple. If it is our intent to drink the elixir from The Chalice of Life, at some point on our journey it becomes necessary to empty out this outer Goblet of Pleasure. SOBRIETY
IS ESSENTIAL WHEN CULTIVATING OUR VINEYARD OF AUTHENTICITY.

If we think living without drinking is boring, it is because we have not yet given ourselves an opportunity to experience the natural and spontaneous joy of being alive. Like abstaining from flesh-eating, this is not an issue of right or wrong, or good verses bad. It is a matter of choice and consequence. It is about the nature of our intent and the steps we are required to take to uphold the integrity of this intent. If, because of our intent to cultivate present moment awareness, we no longer choose to imbibe alcohol, so be it. This transformation in our behavior comes as a blessing from within to imbue us with a greater experience of physical presence, mental clarity, and emotional balance. Also, when not drinking alcohol amidst others who do is no longer an issue for us, the world no longer questions our choice in the matter. The world does not care either way, because for the time being, enough of us bowing and faithfully paying homage to the spirit in the bottle. 22. When breathing for longer than 15 minutes an experience of numbness and cramping sometimes occurs in various parts the body. What causes this? There is a deeper level of The Presence Process that can be experienced, but because of its intensity, it is done so through one-on-one facilitation. This is why details about it are not made available through the book. In addition to the processing requirements already put forward in THE PRESENCE PROCESS, this more intense level includes a minimum one-hour breathing session to activate each weekly session, as well as a minimum one-hour water session to activate Sessions 7, 8, and 9. During these one-hour water sessions, not only is the water hot, as opposed to the warm temperature recommended in the book, but the individual being facilitated also connects their breathing while they are in the hot water. This activates an intense experience of emotional body awareness and is therefore not to be attempted by the unaccompanied or the inexperienced. During these personally facilitated one-on-one sessions most of the participants experience the physical sensations described in this question in one form or another. It is a natural consequence of entering the Process more intensely. It is a rite of passage. These bodily sensations are natural to the Process and always pass. They cause no damage and have no side-effects. Our task, when they occur, is to remain as relaxed as possible and keep our breathing connected. When we experience cramping during a session, it is also beneficial to nurture and comfort ourselves with a gentle massage afterwards.

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Why do these bodily experiences occur? Various explanations exist, depending on what source we consult. The one generally coming from a more orthodox allopathic medical perspective is that cramping and numbness is a consequence of an imbalance between oxygen and carbon dioxide caused by incorrect breathing, or hyperventilation. As far as The Presence Process is concerned, this is not relevant. When we breathe as instructed in Process, we cannot cause an imbalance in our carbon dioxide and oxygen levels. On the contrary, we are initiating a more balanced state of breathing; our breathing in a time-based paradigm is already severely out of balance. In The Presence Process we do not control our breath; we release the control we impose upon it. As far as The Presence Process is concerned, there is no one explanation for these experiences; they are a multi-faceted outer manifestation of many levels of inner processing. During the one-on-one one-hour hot water sessions it is common to witness this cramping and numbness begin within the first 30 seconds of the breather entering the water. Under these circumstances, there is no opportunity to initiate any kind of imbalance through the breathing, and therefore the explanation regarding an oxygen and carbon dioxide imbalance does not hold water. Something else is unfolding here, something more energetic in nature. When we enter this Process at a more intensive level, it is common that during our initial sessions this experience of cramping and/or numbness arises regularly. As a consequence of our inner processing, it eventually passes out of our field of experience. Once we pass through this aspect of our breathing experience it seldom reoccurs, no matter how much we breathe, in or out of water, intensely or not. Through observing hundreds of individuals moving through this procedure, it appears more likely the occurrence of these physical conditions is an energetic reflection of our adjusting states of awareness, a physical manifestation of the neutralizing of the negative emotional charge. While we operate in a time-based paradigm, we may assume our consciousness occupies our physical body, yet it does not. This is because functioning in time does not take us into the body; instead it removes us from the body by sending our attention out into an externalisation of the mental plane, where we spend most of our time drifting in thought. Whenever we are thinking, consciously or unconsciously, about the past or the future, our attention takes us to where our thoughts are. Therefore, whenever we are in thought, it is unlikely we are occupying our physical body. This is the predicament of our a-where-ness in a time-based paradigm. For most of us in this world, our awareness is anchored almost exclusively in this externalised mental realm; an imaginary place constructed of dreamlike thoughts, concepts, and images. Most of us are therefore almost predominantly mental. Subsequently, we only maintain enough awareness in the body to ensure we take a breath every now so we remain connected to Life just enough to keep the bodys physical functions idling. In a time-based paradigm, we therefore experience almost zero physical body awareness, unless we manifest experiences of pain and discomfort. For example, we contain an enormous beating heart in our chest, yet we cannot feel it. We also contain litres of blood pumping through our veins, yet we cannot feel this. The only time we do feel our heart beating and blood pumping is when we are catapulted out of the mental plane and back into our body through fear, fright, deep anxiety, or excitement. This is why we manifest pain and discomfort in our life experience: IF
IT WERE NOT FOR THE PRESENCE OF PHYSICAL PAIN AND DISCOMFORT, WE WOULD LOSE OUR PHYSICAL FORMS FROM NEGLECT QUICKER THAN WE ALREADY DO.

Pain and discomfort serve us by pulling our awareness into the body so that our conscious attention attends to our bodily maintenance. When we choose to consciously occupy our body, we manifest far less pain and discomfort. The power inherent in the breathing exercise we attend to throughout The Presence Process is that aside from pulling our awareness back into our body, it also trains us how to anchoring more and more of our attention into our physical vehicle. As this re-entry into our body is initiated, one of the consequences is we awaken to the reality of our predicament in time; we are almost unaware of our body. As we commence this conscious re-entry during our breathing sessions, this predicament may be made known by feeling cramping and numbness in the extremities. Because cramping is painful it efficiently pulls our conscious attention into

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the body part starved of it. Numbness, on the other hand, which is the polar opposite of pain, demonstrates our lack of awareness in a particular body part, and so by its presence also attracts our attention. Once our awareness re-enters, these experiences of cramping and numbness subside. Once we enter present moment awareness, we also realize our various body parts are metaphoric symbols representing different aspects of our inner and outer life experience. Consequently, through the sensations they exhibit, they give us insight and information about where, how, and why we lack in awareness. For example, our feet may represent our destined path in this life experience, our hands may represent our work and purpose, and our face may represent the masks we wear, or what we show of ourselves to the world. When many of us come to The Presence Process, we may not yet be particularly clear on the path we are walking, the purpose we are here to fulfil, or on how to reveal the fullness of our being in this world. How is it possible for us to be aware of any of this when our awareness is not yet anchored in the physical vehicle designed for us to accomplish this? Through the many insights gained from one-on-one facilitation, it is clear our lack of awareness in various aspects of our inner and outer life experience is also reflected physically during our connected breathing by the numbness and cramping in various parts of our body. As we gain clarity on these various issues, this numbness and cramping in the extremities subsides and dissipates completely. Observations during hundreds of one-on-one facilitations demonstrate over and over again that the appearance and then resolution of this bodily numbness and cramping during connected breathing leaves greater awareness in its wake. Therefore, despite its evident discomfort, it manifests to serve us. No one is harmed by it, although at the time of going through the experience we may feel peaks of excruciating physical pain, mental confusion, and emotional distress. The pain, it appears, is also experienced in proportion to our resistance to, and our attempts at, enforcing our control over the unfolding experience. As long as we remain as relaxed as possible and keep our breathing connected, we pass through these bodily sensations into a more heightened state of physical awareness. These transformative physical experiences also carry a profound mental and emotional component, because when we experience them we also experience accompanying mental activity and emotional release. It is also clear from observation that once these experiences are integrated and the bodily sensations subside, it may be challenging to verbally communicate what occurred. This is because what is unfolding is energetic, and therefore emotionally-rooted as opposed to being mental. In this respect, the experience of cramping and numbness cannot be tied down to one singular explanation; it is a multi-faceted experience, a rite of passage we all go through to some extent when we commit to reentering the body. When we continue to connect our breathing beyond the recommended 15-minute period we may initiate these sorts of experiences. When we do there is a golden rule we are encouraged to obey no matter what: WE ARE NOT TO STOP OUR BREATHING SESSION IN THE MIDST OF WHAT WE PERCEIVE TO BE UNCOMFORTABLE PHYSICAL, MENTAL, OR EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES. We must continue connecting our breathing until these sensations pass. They always do. Once they subside, we may then experience a tingling in our hands, feet, and face. This energetic residue of the experience is normal and natural. We may embrace it as our cells dancing with joy because increased oxygen and long awaited conscious attention is being delivered to them. 23. Why is it that during our breathing session we experience a dry mouth and feel hungry or thirsty afterwards? This again relates to the level of awareness activated when we re-enter the body and accumulate physical presence. As already explained, when we function in a time-based paradigm, we experience little to no physical body awareness. On various levels this leads to living in a state of constant deprivation. When we do not occupy the body, we are unaware that we are often deficient in oxygen, water, and nutrition. When we occupy a time-based paradigm, we breathe unconsciously, and therefore take in enough oxygen to maintain the physical bodys most basic needs. It is estimated that most of us take in 12 to 20 % of our oxygen requirements. We also drink liquids mainly because we feel thirsty. By the time we feel thirsty our body is already dehydrated. And then,

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of course, there is our eating behavior; this is often driven by our pleasure needs, our addictions, or because we feel hungry, not by the awareness of the nutritional requirements of our body. It is common knowledge that because of our eating habits, and because of the quality of the food we put into our mouths, being a well-fed human in a supposed first-world country does not necessarily preclude us from malnutrition. These approaches to our intake of oxygen, fluid, and nutrition are akin to refuelling our car only when it runs out, and then when we do, giving it fuel intolerable to its engines. If we were a car, most of us would seldom do more than switch on the ignition and idle the engine, because we do not contain the fuel content or quality to accomplish much more than that. In a time-based paradigm, what we call living, in comparison to what we are capable of, is idling, and often it is the same as being stuck on the side of a road somewhere. It is not that we are idle; in time we barely contain enough awareness about our own energy systems and how to manage them efficiently to do more than idle. It is no wonder we behave the way we do. It is no wonder we initiate the self-destructive decisions that move our experience into discomfort; we are almost in a continual state of suffocation, thirst, and starvation. OUR LACK OF AWARENESS ABOUT OUR NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS IS A DIRECT CONSEQUENCE OF NOT BEING PHYSICALLY PRESENT. OUR LACK OF AWARENESS ABOUT OUR LEVEL OF OXYGEN INTAKE IS A DIRECT CONSEQUENCE OF NOT BEING MENTALLY PRESENT. OUR LACK OF AWARENESS ABOUT OUR HYDRATION LEVELS IS A CONSEQUENCE OF NOT BEING EMOTIONALLY PRESENT. Yet we cannot join the dots making this predicament obvious until we enter present moment awareness. It is therefore not uncommon to feel famished or thirsty after a connected breathing session. Also, while we attend to our breathing, we may experience what appears to be an unquenchable thirst for oxygen. It is as though we cannot inhale enough breath to satisfy our lungs. These indicators, be they thirst, hunger, or a desire for oxygen, are indicators of a successful breathing session. Why? Because the breathing practice pulls our awareness into our body to the point we become conscious that though we are filling our stomachs, drinking various liquids, and breathing all the time, we are still not giving our physical vehicles the required nutrition, water, and oxygen to function efficiently. When we live in a time-based paradigm, we attend to these aspects of our well-being, not from a point of physical awareness, but because we on some level mentally understand the necessity. It is therefore feels like an effort or a chore. This is why many of us do not bother, or apply only a half-hearted approach. By engaging in an exercise enabling us to accumulate physical presence we bring greater awareness to our eating, drinking, and breathing. When we respond to this increasing awareness by giving ourselves the required fuel, we reduce unnecessary physical, mental, and emotional stress. Subsequently, we realize that taking care of a few simple and obvious necessities in our life experience, like bringing added awareness to our relationship with food, water, and oxygen, vastly improves the comfort level of our stay in this world. Remember that grief, anger, and fear are all heat related. Entertaining these emotional conditions therefore causes our body to dry out. Until we release this heat from our emotional body, and the blockages causing and maintaining it, we continue to require more water than normal. Emotional processing by its nature causes our body to detoxify. Therefore, as we journey through The Presence Process, we are encouraged to drink extra water. The more present moment awareness we accumulate, the more obvious all this becomes, and the more effortless it is to attend to this simple trinity of well-being. 24. Why does entering the present moment through our connected breathing bring up the past? This is because our unresolved experiences of the past prevent us from being aware of the present moment, and therefore it is necessary to accomplish resolution of these unresolved experiences to enter present moment awareness. Let us use the door opened by this question to examine the mechanics of the connected breathing and how and why it assists us to accomplish this. The present moment is not something we manufacture and maintain; it already exists. Everything else is an illusory experience called time. The present moment is already made manifest; it is and shall forever be. Nothing else but the present moment exists. The

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conceptual mental experience called the past and the future require manufacturing and maintenance to appear real right NOW. This is why we tell others our stories. Telling others our stories helps us to keep this concept of a past and a future intact. Others, by the level of their interest in our stories, and then by comparison, by relating their stories to us, assist us to falsely validate our past as something real and tangible right now. Our thinking mind also tells us that, if we are able to mentally discuss our past, if we bear physical scars as evidence of it, and because we experience powerful emotional attachments to it, it has to be real NOW, right? But it is not. It is not real NOW, and therefore navigating our life experience by taking all our readings from our so-called past is hazardous to our physical, mental, and emotional health. The wisdom of the past is definitely of value in that it assists us to be in charge of our life, but it can only lead us astray if our past experiences are emotionally swaying us in such a way that they are causing us to carry a negative charge through our life. This is why the first step to dismantling our past is to stop replaying our emotional dramas in our mind, to stop retelling our sad stories to others, and to stop entertaining others dramas by validating their stories. Internally, our thinking mind tells us these same stories over and over to maintain this non-existent place called the past. This is because without a past or a future, the thinking mind experiences nothing to think about! In a time-based paradigm the thinking mind always requires something to think about to validate its own existence. This is why we state in THE PRESENCE PROCESS that for the most part, thinking is a dysfunction of the mind in time. What is also evident when the veil of time begins to lift is that most of the stories the thinking mind is addicted to repeating are untrue; they are fabrications, misinterpretations, and exaggerations. They are make-believe. They are illusory mental hallucinations in our thinking minds eye. When our awareness is consciously and unconsciously diverted to manufacture and maintain our past as something real NOW, and as a consequence, also being projected into some future based on the reality of this supposed past, it is unavailable to embrace the real experience of present moment. This ongoing process of reflection and projection requires energy, and the energy we give to it is energy we steal from that required to maintain our awareness of the present moment. The connected breathing practice in The Presence Process begins to rectify this predicament. As we practice it some of our conscious awareness is maintained in the present moment. This is because there is no breath in the past, nor in the future, therefore we cannot connect our breathing without redirecting at least some of our attention into the present moment. Initially this task of causing our attention to remain present is challenging, because all through time we are accustomed to it slipping away into these non-existent mental hallucinations. Initially, the task of keeping our attention in the present moment is like attempting to tame a wild animal. When we practice activities like connected breathing, we discover that time-based consciousness is an addiction to avoiding present moment awareness. It may well be the most perceptually subtle addiction humanity faces, yet it is the most significant addiction facing the human soul. Our souls are in this respect possessed by illusory experiences of the past and the future to the point that we have nothing left to give to the present moment. In eastern wisdom time is viewed as an entity, as the ruler of the physical, mental, and emotional world; the domain called creation. One of the Sanskrit names used for this entity is Kal, and the literal translation from Sanskrit to English of the word Kal is time. This Being called Kal plays a similar role to the entity in Christian mythology called the devil, or Satan; Kal possesses the souls entering creation by constructing a veil of illusion preventing us from being aware we are personally responsible for the effects of our accumulated thoughts, words, and deeds. This veil is the consequence of time; while living within time we cannot perceive the connection between cause and effect, because this connection is only visible in the present moment. Therefore, we behave as though we are not responsible for our behavior. According to eastern wisdom the effects of our actions in this creation require time to manifest. We also have to account for these effects within the realms our actions are initiated. Thus, through our ignorance of our own responsibility, we entrap ourselves in the limited confines of this physical, mental, and emotional realm. Our entrapment is therefore not only due to of the law of cause and effect, but because of our ignorance of this law. As such, whenever we behave as victims and victors we are bowing to the will of Kal, or the devil, or

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Satan, or time. This is why this world, being the domain of Kal, or time, encourages us to take a side, because whenever we do, we are either entering victim or victor mentality and subsequently buying time-shares into this experience. According to eastern wisdom, in the domain of Kal, or whatever name we choose for the god of the mind-matrix, it is also as imprisoning to do good deeds as it is to cause chaos. Good deeds may elevate our experience into heavenly realms or places of paradise, but these perceptual pleasure resorts still occur within the confines of the physical, mental, and emotional mind matrix called creation. It is only when we learn how to overcome and transform the dictates of the ego and the thinking mind, to stop doing anything for me, myself, and I, and instead to attribute our initiated activity to our Source, to a point of origin beyond the confines of this creation, that we free ourselves of the shackles of personal behavior. To accomplish this we have to cleanse ourselves of emotionally-driven behavior, and achievement of 100% present moment awareness is the only way to accomplish this. THE
WORD DEVIL, WHEN SPELT BACKWARDS, IS LIVED.

LIVED

IS AN EXPRESSION OF TIME.

LIFE

IN THE PAST TENSE:

LIFE

EXPRESSED IN

According to some of the oldest eastern teachings on our planet and the newer orthodox belief systems of the west, just as a drug or habitual behavior possess us and confines us beyond the reach of our own authenticity, so do our experiences in, and our ignorance of, our predicament in time. It is only when we intend to re-enter present moment awareness that we realize how addicted we are. Through consciously connected breathing we become aware that, when left unattended, our attention habitually moves like an addict towards its fix; the illusory mental thought forms it occupies and entertains. Therefore, one of the immediate side-effects of setting out to break this habit by consciously connecting our breathing is we become aware of the illusory places in time we habitually frequent. As we consciously connect our breathing, the past and the future pull at us like drugs pulling addicts attempting to quit their fix. As we continue our attempt to remain present, these addictive mental states surface into our awareness as physical, mental, and emotional hallucinations; as physical sensations, mentally confused thought processes, and negatively charged emotional releases. The reason why these places in time initially clamp onto our attention and anchor it there, causing us to habitually return to them, is because they are related to unresolved experiences we are unable to digest. Because these experiences initially occur before we turn seven, we initially interact with them on an emotional level. Because we are unable to digest them, they root themselves within us as uncomfortable emotional resonances. From around the age of seven onwards, as our awareness evolves into the mental realm, we translate these uncomfortable emotional resonances into our stories. These stories become the foundations of our belief systems about ourselves and the world we live in. As we enter adulthood, and as our awareness becomes primarily physical, these belief systems manifest as our outer life circumstances and the various symptomatic states we witness in our physical body. The emotional resonance, the initial marker of the unresolved experience, is then unconscious to us. As adults, we are unaware that these unresolved emotional resonances exist. We do not perceive that our physical reality is propped up by mental belief systems spurned by uncomfortable conditions in our emotional body. It is these uncomfortable emotional conditions that pull us out of the present moment, but because this occurs unconsciously, the closest we come to an awareness of what is happening is through the stories we tell ourselves and others about the past. These stories are only valuable in that they contain the tell-tale roots of the core belief systems we concocted as we translated the discomfort in our emotional body into words. Their value whilst striving to enter present moment awareness is in our ability to use them as a trail back into our emotional body discomfort. Unless we use them as a tool to feel their underlying emotional resonance, they are useless to us. Yet, when all is said and done, there is no past, as in something behind us that we look back at. The past, in its story-form, is a mental concept we endow with life. When the past is revealed for what it is, we see a mental reflection of a blocked energy pathway in our emotional body. We cannot be present and let go of the past by mentally thinking about it in an attempt to understand it. We must accomplish this on an emotional level, by

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compassionately feeling and thereby restoring the flow of our blocked energy. And this is possible only when we bring our attention to the location of these blockages. The past is therefore not something we go back to. No past exists back there. The past is something we carry within us as an energetic resonance; it is something we therefore go into. This is what connected breathing accomplishes. It enables our awareness to re-enter, and when practiced with a procedure supporting the intent, to remain in the body. By our attention remaining present in the body, we become aware of the uncomfortable blocked energetic conditions holding the keys to why we enter an addictive relationship with time in the first place. This is how and why, by breathing consciously, we bring up the past. By combining this breathing practice with an appropriate process, we then empower ourselves to bring these undigested experiences to resolution. Consciously connected breathing therefore activates present moment awareness; it is the antidote to our addictive relationship with time. 25. Why is it that despite being fit and healthy, drained after a 20-minute warm water session? we still feel physically

This question points to a level of confusion which may arise when we explore emotional body awareness. This confusion happens when we attempt to compare, or equate, our level of emotional body awareness with our level of physical body fitness. We cannot do this without becoming confused, because our level of physical body fitness cannot be used as a barometer to measure our level of emotional body awareness. Even an Olympic athlete in prime physical condition initially feels drained after a water session. The present state of our human condition is that we experience almost zero emotional body awareness. Because we cry easily, or because we shout and go through all manner of emotional displays, does not mean we experience emotional body awareness. It means we are good at manifesting drama, and drama is an indication of a lack of emotional body awareness. Emotional body awareness is a state of being devoid of fear, anger, grief, or any of the dramas arising out of this trinity of emotional body dysfunction. Like the physical body, the emotional body is either fit or unfit. Using our physical body inappropriately causes it to become unfit. When we recline lazily on a couch day over weekends, sit still at a desk all day during the week, and spend 8 hours a night flat on a bed, our physical body is weak and lacks stamina. Then when we enter a physical experience, like running a marathon, or just 2 kilometres around our neighbourhood, we become physically exhausted. We feel drained. Because the world is only starting to value or perceive any significance in emotional body awareness, this too is the condition our emotional body is in; it is unfit and therefore lacks stamina. Just as a person who sits around day is unconscious of their physical body, we who do not exercise the emotional body are unconscious of it as well. When we then enter a water session for the first time, we feel how emotionally unfit we are. The experience may exhaust us and cause us to feel drained. This level of exhaustion, though we automatically equate it with our physical body, is an indicator of the state of our level of emotional body awareness. Because our emotional body is the causal point of our experiences in this world, the fatigue from our initial encounter with our emotional body in the water seeps through and is mirrored in our mental processes and physical abilities. This is why THE PRESENCE PROCESS advises us not to plan any demanding activities after our initial water sessions. Many of us feel tired after our first few water sessions, just as a physically unfit person does after a run. As we continue to explore our emotional body through the water sessions, we gradually reactivate emotional body awareness. Consequently, we regain emotional stamina and this enables us to express our emotional body authentically. Indicators of a shift into emotional body awareness are: Being able to express how we feel about something. Awakening to discernment and containment. Express what is within us instead of what is expected from outside of us.

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Say no when we mean no and yes when we mean yes. Being able to leave any situation without feeling awkward. We stop standing social ceremonies. Being able to ignore the emotional blackmailing of beggars and sales persons. Becoming aware of parasitic presences in our energy field and taking the actions to cleanse ourselves of these. Being able to tell the truth in every situation, to ourselves and to others. Being able to draw a line in the sand and say No! without feeling guilt. Being emotionally in charge of our life experience, and able to assert ourselves without the aggressive resonance of an unconscious emotional charge. No longer seeking acknowledgement or validation from the world because we are our own validation. Responding equally to triumph as to tragedy. Developing a neutral relationship with all our energetic experiences; not favouring one emotion over another. We embrace them as relevant in the ever-changing tides of our life experience.

Initially it does not matter how physically fit we are, how well we eat, how many alternative healing workshops we attend, or how often we work out each week. When we enter the water sessions we feel it. This is because the water sessions are akin to getting our emotional body off the couch and taking it for its first 2 kilometre run. It is one of the most efficient procedures for cleansing the emotional body and for initiating the journey of reawakening emotional body awareness. With perseverance, our experience of the water sessions transform from us feeling drained, to feeling calmer, to feeling invigorated. It is a journey. No quick fix exists for the present condition of the human emotional body in time. 26. THE PRESENCE PROCESS instructs us that when we begin a new session with its own Presence Activating Statement we are not to repeat the previous ones. Why? To receive the fullest benefit from The Presence Process we are asked to surrender to it completely. This is challenging for our ego. To maintain control our ego continually needs and wants to adjust this process. It cunningly justifies its adjustments by using the vocabulary inherent in the procedure to validate its manipulations. The only way we are 100% sure of protecting ourselves from falling prey to the interference of the ego as we journey through The Presence Process is to follow the instructions of the procedure to the letter, where possible. Anything else is to open the door to the egos devious and self-serving meddling. The above question is similar to another that arises when we move through the Process for the first time. It reads something like this: THE PRESENCE ACTIVATION STATEMENT IN SESSION THREE DOES NOT THIS IS RIGHT? IT FEELS RIGHT IN THE MOMENT,
WORK FOR ME.

THEREFORE I

CHANGED IT TO

SURELY

THEREFORE IT MUST BE RIGHT.

It is perfectly normal that Presence Activation Statements from previously completed sessions pop into our awareness as we move through the Process. This is more because the mind is addicted to familiarity and repetition than because we are tuning into what is most appropriate for us in the present moment. When we move through this process, what is most appropriate for us in the present moment is to obey the instructions. They are for our benefit.

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Until we complete this process at least three to four times, we cannot assume we know why it is structured in the manner it is, and therefore assume the right to initiate adjustments to suit ourselves. Once we complete the process more than once, and experience the benefits, we are less likely to fiddle with it; we grow in respect for it. The ego on the other hand is disrespectful until transformed. When this ego-outbreak occurs, and it does in one way or another for all of us, there is a simple course of action to follow: When we feel an urge to insert an adjusted Presence Activation Statement, or to use one from a previous session, it is best to curiously observe and take note of this behavior, and then to replace the egos suggestion with the correct Presence Activation Statement. Any resistance to following this simple instruction is our bowing to the interference of the ego. No exception to this rule exists. To believe we are not finished with a particular Presence Activation Statement is to assume we know how this Process works, and how to gauge the outcome of its individual components. To think about the Presence Activation Statements in this way, in terms of results, is to miss the point of the entire process (TPP/Pg 62). Only the ego is concerned with results. The Presence Activation Statements are causal, and align themselves with the frequency of consequences, as opposed to results. When we repeat them to the best of our ability for the duration of the relevant session, it is unnecessary and there is no value in continuing to apply them. When we meet someone on the street whom we know, and we say Hello, we do not then say Hello again after our conversation with them commences. The same applies to the Presence Activation Statements; their place, order, and duration of application are deliberate. They are not separate from what is happening in the rest of that particular session, or from what is carefully woven by the entire Process. To assume we may use them here and there, according to the dictates of the thinking mind and ego, is to misunderstand the cohesive and deliberate tapestry of The Presence Process. It is to acknowledge them as functioning in isolation from the rest of the Process. When we fiddle with the individual strands making this Process efficient, it is because we are as yet unable to perceive and appreciate the fullness of the beautiful tapestry. While in the midst of our journey through The Presence Process, because something feels right does not necessarily mean we are functioning from present moment awareness. While in midProcess many of our feelings are still being driven by the surfacing of unconscious needs and wants, by the resistance of our ego to authenticity, and by the reluctance of our thinking mind to embrace change. Drinking alcohol also feels right to someone who is in the midst of an alcoholic relapse. Committing suicide also feels right to someone who is being confronted by a powerful transformational obstacle in their life experience. Killing helpless women and children also feels right to an insane dictator who is fearfully clinging to a reign of fear. Accordingly, not obeying the instructions of The Presence Process feels right to a child not wanting to be told what to do, to an ego cowering in resistance, and to a thinking mind clinging to familiarity and a false sense of control. Until we travel some way on our journey towards reactivating emotional body awareness, to make decisions about our journey through this Process on what feels right is premature. It is opening the door to self-sabotage. For the most part, as we move through the individual sessions of The Presence Process, we are not functioning from present moment awareness. The experience of present moment awareness begins to manifest in the weeks after completion. During the actual Process, our attention is focussed on what robs us of present moment awareness so the blockages in our emotional body surface to be resolved. We are to be vigilant and cautious when using present moment awareness as an excuse to avoid surrendering to the instructions of the Process. We grow from what we do not know. Let us therefore allow ourselves to enter the experience of not-knowing. Nothing inappropriate happens when we metaphorically take off our head and place it out of reach for a while. On the contrary, when we accomplish this for about 77 days, we benefit greatly! 27. Please discuss the structure of The Presence the intentions are behind its various procedures? Process and share what

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As we answer this question it is useful to have a copy of THE PRESENCE PROCESS open at the contents page so a visual overview of the Process is available as a point of reference. We commence with Session One and move through to Session Ten. Session One introduces us to our Inner Presence, to the mechanics of the breathing technique, and addresses the resistance we may feel towards attending to our inner work. Session Two commences the first step in a four-part introduction to a perceptual tool called The Emotional Cleansing Process. This tool is pivotal to the entire Process because it teaches us in a tangible way how to transform our behavior from reactive to responsive. It is possible to learn this perceptual tool in 15 minutes, because it is easy to understand, but to incorporate it into our perceptual relationship with ourselves, and hence our interaction with the world, we allow four weeks for practice and integration. We also use our four week introduction to The Emotional Cleansing Process to systematically open an energetic pathway re-directing the flow of our attention back into ourselves. By redirecting our attention into ourselves, as opposed to our habitual preoccupation with projecting it out into the world, we reverse The Pathway of Awareness we use to enter this world. Instead of our awareness moving habitually from emotional to mental to physical, in the first five weeks of The Presence Process we learn to redirect the flow of our awareness from the physical to the mental and into the emotional. This is no small accomplishment. Reversing this pathway goes against the grain of the hypnotically reactive currents of this world. To accomplish this reversal perceptually, and to ensure it is entrenched within us physically, mentally, and emotionally, we address each step in detail as we journey from Session Two to Session Five. Let us briefly examine these steps and perceive how we accomplish this reversal:

IN SESSION TWO WE ARE TAUGHT TO IDENTIFY OUR MESSENGERS; those outer circumstances in our life experience revealing what we cannot perceive about our inner emotional condition. To accomplish this, our interaction with our experience is physical. The perceptual emphasis here is on observing. IN SESSION THREE WE ARE TAUGHT TO RECEIVE THE MESSAGE; to garner the information from outer circumstances negatively impacting our emotional well-being. To accomplish this, our interaction with our experience is mental. The perceptual emphasised here is on understanding. IN SESSION FOUR WE ARE INSTRUCTED TO FEEL IT TO HEAL IT; to bring our compassionate attention to the physical locations within our body reflecting our emotional blockages. To accomplish this, our interaction with our experience begins knocking at the door of emotional body awareness. The perceptual emphasis here is on acknowledging our emotional feelings and their associated physical sensations. IN SESSION FIVE
WE ARE INSTRUCTED HOW TO RETURN OUR ATTENTION TO THE CAUSAL POINT OF OUR EXPERIENCES IN

THIS WORLD BY ACKNOWLEDGING OUR CHILD SELF;

the caretaker of the emotional component to our life experience. The perceptual emphasis here is on activating compassion through being present.

What we accomplish by Session Five is powerful; we redirect the pathway of our awareness from habitually projecting itself out there, to being redirected into here. We reverse our tendency to dramatically externalise our attention, and instead learn how to internalise it responsibly in a manner enabling us to digest what remains emotionally suppressed and unresolved. Thus we re-establish an energetic pathway from our outer physical experience, through the mental realm, and into the emotional. In Session Six we integrate this accomplishment by revealing this perceptual tool in its entirety as The Emotional Cleansing Process. Session Six also prepares us for the water sessions. It is the conscious opening of this energetic pathway back into ourselves that enables us to activate and accomplish the intent of the water sessions; to journey into our emotional body and adjust the discomfort driving our reactive behavior. Without first establishing this

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pathway, there is no way to move our awareness into our emotional body. Without awareness of this pathway we keep attempting to understand what is happening and do not allow ourselves to surrender to the process of feeling to heal. Therefore, our journey from Session Two to Five, by systematically reversing The Pathway of Awareness, trains us to enter the emotional realm effortlessly; it prepares us for the water sessions. Session Seven, Eight, and Nine are our water sessions. As with Sessions Two to Five, there is an underlying intent unfolding as we move through these three weeks; we address three specific dimensions of emotional dysfunction with intent to reduce our overall level of energetic discomfort. This is accomplished by being aware there is a specific pathway our awareness moves along when we intend to resolve discomfort in the emotional body; from fear, to anger, and then to grief. Once the grief is cleared, our inherent joy is liberated. These three dysfunctional energetic conditions are the trinity of emotional discomfort. They have specific effects on the quality of our experiences: Fear causes us to vacate the physical body. Anger causes us to entertain mental confusion. Grief causes us to become emotionally externalised and imbalanced.

As we move through the emotional body, from Session Seven to Session Nine, we intentionally address and re-align each one in a deliberate order of priority:

Session Seven addresses our fear and readjusts its resonance to safety. Session Eight addresses our anger and readjusts its resonance to peace. Session Nine addresses our grief and readjusts its resonance to joy.

When we arrive at Session Ten we are ready to initiate a major perceptual adjustment to the quality of our life experience through the tool of appreciation. Session Ten enables us to reconnect with our experience of the world by reconnecting with ourselves and our sense of purpose. We can initiate this transformation only when we re-establish a semblance of safety, peace, and joy in the quality of our life experience. This is why it is necessary to systematically move through the water sessions before we do so. This is a brief overview of what The Presence Process intends and accomplishes. This is also only one thread of its intent, but a central one. When we move through this experience a few times, we realize there is far more going on than is communicated mentally. By repeating this Process more than once we discover how artfully we are delivered into deeper levels of awareness about the nature of the present moment. It is as though the words we previously read are themselves transformed to reveal deeper insights. We encounter profound revelations that become clumsy words in our mouths when we attempt to verbalize them. Many Ahas! exist within this Process that are possible to communicate only within a knowing smile. When we arrive at this point, we cease to question the integrity of this beautiful gift. We know, and we are deeply grateful for this. 28. In THE POWER OF NOW Eckhart Tolle writes that one of the quickest ways to re-enter the body and the present moment is to intentionally feel our Inner Body. Why is this procedure not stressed and practiced in The Presence Process? To answer this question it is useful to examine the difference between Truth and truths. We are to be careful, as we approach present moment awareness, not to become stuck on names and concepts. This work is intent-driven and differing intents require different tools, approaches, teachers, and terminology. The names and concepts flowing through this work are tools serving the intents of the teachers and the specific requirements of their students. Tolle speaks of them as signposts, and says we follow the direction they point us in and not become infatuated by the signposts themselves. In this respect, Tolles work and THE

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PRESENCE PROCESS are hands of the same body pointing us towards the experience of present moment awareness. We are not to become distracted by the hands and the way they point, or by whose hand is pointing; we are to place our attention on the direction in which the hands point. All the hands pointing towards present moment awareness are constructed of truths, yet the direction they point us in is the only Truth. Determined by their intent, each pointer therefore works with and establishes different truths to bring our attention to the same Truth. A variety of pointers are necessary because Truth cannot be expressed; we therefore require different approaches to ensure awareness of its Presence is widely accessible. For example, Tolle talks about the pain body, whereas, in THE PRESENCE PROCESS, we talk about the negative emotional charge. Whether or not we are talking about the same thing, we cannot entirely be sure. Maybe we are talking about different attributes of the energetic dysfunction inhibiting the experience of present moment awareness. Who can say? It does not matter, because these expressions are truths, they are pointers, not The Truth. Does it mean there is a pain body, or a negative emotional charge? Who is to say? These are mental concepts we introduce, and when agreed upon, enable us to navigate our attention and intention in a way to make us vulnerable to the emergence of present moment awareness. This is the objective. Inner Presence and present moment awareness are words, concepts, and pointers to a nameless experience. Once we enter the experience of present moment awareness, names, concepts, definitions, and understandings dissolve into a knowing that is silent, still, and inexpressible. The real experience defies conceptualisation; it is a felt-perception. Even the word Truth is inadequate when we enter the remembrance of our Inner Presence. We do not say, This is the truth. We do not say anything. When we enter this experience authentically, there is no one to communicate with or to, because our Inner Presence is one. Being one it is invisible, silent, and still. Then, the words invisible, silent, and still also fall away. This is what we are pointing too. The beauty about being alive right NOW is we have a vocabulary and mass communicative tools that is able to assist millions of us to rapidly navigate our experiences towards entering present moment awareness. This is the extraordinary event unfolding right now for humanity. Let us therefore not become lost in the terminology, because doing so leads us deeper into the mentally-driven paradigm of a timebased consciousness. The real miracle is unspeakable; present moment awareness is speechless! 29. In THE PRESENCE PROCESS it is written that the procedure of neutralizing negative emotional imprinting continues after we finish our 15 minute breathing session. How is this possible? Picture the quick winding up, and then gradual, systematic, unwinding of a clock mechanism. A clock keeps operating long after it is wound, because the winding builds up energy in its spring-coil mechanism which is then systematically released by calculated mechanical resistance. This too is how adjustments activated by inner processing slowly filter through from the emotional, to the mental, and finally into the physical body. All the intended adjustments in the emotional body during the course of a 15 minute breathing session are accomplished during that session. This is akin to the winding up of the clock. Because of the Pathway of Awareness, we know that energy flows from the emotional to the mental, and finally to manifesting in our physical body. These adjustments take time to unfold in our experience. This is akin to the systematic mechanical resistance on the springcoil of the unwinding clock mechanism. Therefore, though we complete an adjustment in our emotional body during our breathing sessions, the consequences of this may take a few hours, or days, sometimes weeks, to filter through and integrate into our mental and physical awareness. We call this gradual filtering through into our experience, processing. This is why it is essential we approach this type of inner work in the format of a process; because it always is. This gradual movement of energy through the three bodies also assists us to understand why hopping in and out of weekend workshops indiscriminately may cause feelings of being overwhelmed; because we keep processing whatever adjustments we initiate in our emotional body long after the event, and often without the required facilitation and support. It is also beneficial to understand the nature of inner processing:

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THE

MORE SOLITUDE, STILLNESS, AND QUIETNESS WE EXPOSE OURSELVES TO, THE QUICKER OUR INNER ADJUSTMENTS UNFOLD TO COMPLETION.

This is why a large portion of our processing unfolds while we are asleep; in our modern day and age, this is often the only opening in our busy schedules for any stillness and silence. This is also why we are instructed to attend to our consciously connected breathing twice a day for 15 minutes long after we complete The Presence Process; not only does this practice assist us to initiate inner adjustments, but it also punctuates the constant movement and noise of our waking hours with deliberate opportunities to accommodate inner processing. The funny thing is these inner adjustments take no time at all; when they occur they are instantaneous. Our Inner Presence does not require time to accomplish anything; it operates beyond these limitations. Because of the various densities of energy making up the vehicle we occupy in this world, we require the experience of time to realize what is already accomplished. 30. Why do we only begin the water sessions in Session Seven?

The Presence Process was born out of an intention to uncover a gentle, integrative approach to make causal adjustments to our emotional body. To accommodate gentleness into the frequency of the experience, we first carefully open up an energetic pathway into the emotional body before we re-enter it to initiate adjustments. In this way the experience is not traumatic. To facilitate this intent, our first objective is to reactivate physical presence. To accomplish this we apply a combination of the breathing technique, the Presence Activation Statements, and the reading materials with their inherent perceptual tools. Through the power of the present moment awareness we accumulate we activate our second objective: Reawakening mental clarity. Mental clarity in the context of The Presence Process is, comprehending the nature of our predicament in a time-based paradigm and the necessity to extract ourselves from it. Or, realizing we are responsible for the quality of our experiences. To support this intent, we introduce a powerful perceptual tool called The Emotional Cleansing Process. This perceptual tool teaches us how to use our attention and intention to extract ourselves from time-based reactive behavior. By learning to wield The Emotional Cleansing Process over a period of six sessions, we are also accomplishing a 180 degree reversal of the habitual outward flow of our awareness. This reversal enables us to open up an energetic pathway back into ourselves. This may sound complicated, but it unfolds naturally and for the most part occurs without us realizing it. By the time we reach Session Seven, this energetic pathway is open so that, when induced, our attention re-enters the emotional body. We induce this re-entry by first submerging ourselves in warm water for 20 minutes, then attending to our regular breathing exercise. Normally, submerging ourselves in warm water for 20 minutes does not accomplish the reactivation of emotional body awareness to the extent it does in The Presence Process. This is because over a period of six weeks we are gently, in a focused and integrative manner, channelling our overall intention towards initiating this experience. This is the power of using a variety of tools custom-designed to orchestrate a deliberate channelling of our intent. This is why the water sessions only begin in the seventh week; because we are choosing mercy over sacrifice. When making adjustments to the emotional body, we are not to behave reactively, like a dog snapping at a bone. We are stepping beyond the frequency of instant gratification and choosing to honor the power of an intentional procedure. This is why The Presence Process is efficient; every part of it supports every other part of it. Every moment of our journey through it is designed to accommodate our highest interest; liberation from a time-based paradigm and subsequent re-entry into present moment awareness in as gentle manner as is possible.

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31. I am a heroine user attempting to resolve the cause of my addiction. Since starting the Process I have repeated nightmares about similar past life experiences. I am struggling with the fear these nightmares generate. THE PRESENCE PROCESS focuses on healing the child within us, but what about working with our past life traumas? What if the cause of addiction is not in this life? If we wake up one morning and discover we do not recall our identity, it is foolish to spend our time and energy unearthing our historic family tree to discover who we are now. It is simpler to open our wallet and check our drivers license, or speak to others who live in close proximity to us. This is where we discover the information we seek; right here, right now. In this same light, when we enter present moment awareness, we lose fascination with exploring our past lives. This is because it is obvious everything we require to restore balance to the quality of our life experience is staring at us in the present moment. Everything that happened, or may happen, is anchored to what is happening right now. Nothing ends or begins, it keeps transforming. Our past lives transform into this one, and this one transforms into every other experience we have. This life experience, the one we are feeling, touching, smelling, tasting, and hearing right now, is the one given to us to awaken through. While we operate in time-based paradigm, this may not appear so, because in time everything relevant appears to happen in the past, or may potentially happen in the future. Everything that requires resolution so that we can bring peace to our present experience is brought with us and energetically imprinted into our emotional body in the first seven years of our current life experience. No one and nothing went away, or ever does. Because it is energetically attached to our presence, our energetic baggage is automatically carried with us from our previous experiences and accompanies us into this life so we may interact with it here and now. It is stored in our emotional body. Our task now is to deliver it beyond positive or negative by neutralizing our relationship with it, by accessing the wisdom from it, by responding instead of reacting to it. This is why working with our child self is necessary in restoring peace to our life experience. While we are in this world, our child self, our emotional component, is the keeper of the causal point of the unresolved experiences we bring with us from other lifetimes. In this respect, nothing happening during our childhood is new. This is challenging for us to grasp when we view our childhood from a time-based perspective. Yet, the experiences we go through in the first seven years of our life are not haphazard; they are as deliberate as the ticking of a clock. Everything we experience in our first seven years, every energetic impulse we register, is staged by the universe. It diligently serves to tattoo our emotional body with the exact frequency of the energetic baggage we bring with us to resolve in this lifetime. This is where our blueprint or destiny for the present life experience is stored in a manner that is accessible to us. By integrating the following truth, we release ourselves from an immense amount of unnecessary drama:
MENTAL, AND EMOTIONAL INTERACTIONS , WHICH REPRESENT A TRANSFER OF THE SUM AND NATURE OF THE ENERGY FROM OUR PAST INCARNATIONS, WHICH WE PURPOSELY BRING WITH US TO INTEGRATE DURING THE COURSE OF THIS LIFE EXPERIENCE.

THE

FIRST SEVEN YEARS OF OUR EXPERIENCE ON THIS PLANET, CALLED OUR CHILDHOOD, IS COMPOSED OF SPECIFIC PHYSICAL,

This is why there is no blame for anything occurring during our childhood; no matter how horrid it is! Our interaction with our parents and siblings during this seven-year time period is the deliberate unfolding of a sacred agreement between us and them. Through their physical, mental, and emotional behavior around us, and our emotional reaction to this, we are imprinted emotionally with the polarized points of incompletion which we come to work with in this experience. It unfolds exactingly under the eye of the universal law of cause and effect. This is how our past possesses us in this life. When we birth our own children, we agree to do this for them too. This agreement unfolds unconsciously and energetically, otherwise we could not keep it. WHO
WANTS TO ABUSE OR BE ABUSED TO KEEP A SACRED AGREEMENT?

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When we come into this life to resolve the issue of sexual abuse, we are exposed on some level to the experience of sexual abuse before we turn seven. It may be an event happening to us, or one we perceive happening between others in our midst. By the time we turn 14 this issue is translated into a mental belief system about our sexuality. By the time we turn 21 it is an issue dominating our physical experiences around sexuality and intimate relationships. This dysfunctional energy keeps resurfacing and repeating in our life experience as a pattern, in some form or another, until we experience enough awareness to bring consciousness to it, to take responsibility for it by integrating it. OUR
CYCLIC INVITATION, CALLING US IN EACH MOMENT TO TRANSFORM OUR DYSFUNCTIONAL ENERGETIC RESONANCES INTO UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. LIFE EXPERIENCE, DESPITE WHAT WE MAY PERCEIVE IT TO BE IN TIME, IS A REPEATING OPPORTUNITY, A UNFOLDING GIFT, A

There is therefore no point in attempting to access our past lives to resolve the uncomfortable experiences we are encounter NOW. The emotional resonance crouching behind any uncomfortable experience we carry now is stored in our emotional body; the causal point at which authentic resolution is to be achieved. In the present moment our past lives are irrelevant. Many of us may of course disagree, but this is because we are still operating from a time-based paradigm, instead of a perspective born of present moment awareness. SEEKING
TO MOVE OUR AWARENESS INTO ANOTHER LIFETIME TO RESOLVE WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW IS A PERSPECTIVE ARISING FROM LIVING IN A TIME-BASED PARADIGM.

The fear we are feeling right now is the emotional signature we bring with us from our past incarnations. It is futile attempting to go there to attempt to resolve what is happening right here, or to even think in those terms. It is futile because we transferred those unresolved energetic experiences into this life experience through our childhood emotional imprinting. Due to drug usage we may well be experiencing a heightened level of sensitivity and awareness translating into the recall of past life imagery. As a consequence of this heightened awareness we may be able to link up the fear surfacing in our life right now, through dreams and intuition, with what appears to be real images of past incarnations. It is futile to think in terms of going there to achieve resolution with what is unfolding here and now. Where is there? No there exists. When we stop sedating the fear we are experiencing right now by abstaining from drug use, and when we instead ground ourselves in the here and now and allow ourselves to feel this fear, we discover the repeating experience leaking through in our dreamtime as the nightmares that we are equating with our past lives, is the exact same resonance of fear repeatedly driving us into our addictive experience. The same fear is now being used as a tool to push our attention away from the state of being making it possible for us to assist ourselves; present moment awareness. It is now being used to drive us mentally into places appearing real now, but which are illusionary. This is the disadvantage of entering emotional body awareness artificially, through drug use, before we acquire the resonance of personal responsibility, discernment, and containment; while in this artificially induced state we believe what we see, hear, and feel during these experiences to be real. Our current fearful experience is undoubtedly connected to our past lives, but our authentic access to it is to be found in and through this life experience. FOR
OF US ALL ONLY ONE FEAR EXISTS. IT MAY WEAR MANY FACES AND MANIFEST IN VARYING INTENSITIES.

DYSFUNCTION PROPAGATING THE BELIEF IN SEPARATION FROM OUR EVERYTHING.

SOURCE,

HENCE FROM OURSELVES, FROM EVERYBODY AND

FEAR

IS THE ENERGETIC

FEAR

IS THE ILLUSORY EXPERIENCE OF SEPARATION.

THAT

IS ALL IT IS.

Our allegiance to the illusion of separation-consciousness is the causal point of all the fear manifesting in the universe. It is irrelevant as to what form the face of this one fear mutates for any of us, because energetically it is the same fear, one we have carried with us for millions of lifetimes. We have carried it since the beginning of time. Therefore, the question is: Which lifetime are we going to zero in on and isolate as the cause of our fear? Whichever one we choose is the one most appealing because it is the most dramatic. In this way we are romanticizing this energetic dysfunction by using the ego and the thinking mind as a means to make this selection. The only place this condition can be resolved is here and

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now, and the way to accomplish this is through entering our emotional body; by allowing ourselves to feel it as it manifests in our life experience right now. The reason these fearful dreams of past life dramas surface into our awareness when we enter The Presence Process, and keep repeating, is because this energetic dysfunction is coming up now for resolution. This is a beneficial indicator. We are processing in our sleep because of the silence and stillness accessible in this state. When a dream keeps repeating, it is because it is pointing to something significant, something crucial to our liberation from the present circumstances haunting us and driving us into our addictive experience. Our addiction is always an act of self-medication; by using heroine we are sedating ourselves as a means to control this fearful resonance. Our only hope of overcoming fear is by transcending our belief in separation through an experience of unification. Unification is only available NOW, in the present moment. The connected breathing is an opportunity for us to lay the foundation for this experience. Our task now, through the breathing and the present moment awareness it empowers us to accumulate, is to place our attention on where and how this fearful frequency is manifesting in this life, and to work with this manifestation of the fear, here and now. This enables us to track this fear energetically to the causal point of the experience imprinted into our child self in this life. Even though we are now an adult, we are not to think of our child self as being somewhere in the past. It is only in the past when we perceive it from a linear, time-based perspective. Our child self is still alive and living within our heart. It is our heart. It is not back there; it is within us now. It is therefore into ourselves we journey to release this fear. Our own heart holds the key to our liberation from this fearful experience. We are being called upon by this fear to bring unity to our own heart. Accomplishing this dissolves our nightmares. Accomplishing this transforms the fear into a divine messenger. Bringing our child self to peace is the most powerful tools we have access to for accomplishing resolution of any energetic dysfunction we bring with us from past incarnations. There may well be other ways to accomplish this, yet from a present moment awareness perspective this is the obvious and common sense approach. We are told that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line; working with our emotional body in this life experience is the straight line. From a present moment awareness perspective, there is no past life, there is this one Life; this is the resonance of unification-consciousness. It does not serve us at to resort to sympathy and to allow ourselves to wallow in our misconceptions about the real nature of our predicament. When it comes to an experience like heroine addiction, we are in the midst of a battle for our soul. We are therefore encouraged to facilitate our journey into self-discovery by asking ourselves questions like: Is anyone honest with us? Are we being honest with ourselves? Do we believe anyone tells us, face to face, the truth we require hearing to overcome our addiction? Are we willing to hear this truth being spoken, or do we react to it with the viciousness we know we host and use to inflict pain on others as a means to hide from our predicament? Does anyone in our experience go beyond their own fears to address the fear we harbor within our own heart? Are those in our midst who profess to be helping us, actually helping us, or are they only succeeding in saving us from helping ourselves? Are we manipulating them into behaving this way? Do we then despise them for being weak? Who in our life experience is asking nothing of us? (Only those asking nothing of us are able to tell us the truth. Anyone with a vested interest in us overcoming our addiction

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needs and wants something from us, as much as a dealer who is selling us the drug of our choice. Neither can tell us the truth.) Do we choose to hear the truth about our predicament, about our behavior, or are we only seeking out information that conveniently justifies why we continue to entrap ourselves in these circumstances? Are we authentic enough to answer these above questions honestly? WHEN
THE TRUTH IS PAINFUL, PAIN SETS US FREE.

Our preoccupation with past lives is a manifestation of our unconscious resistance to paying attention to the experience we are in now. It is a distraction. A preoccupation with our past lives is like attending a peace rally to stop a war happening in another country when we cannot sit in peace around the dinner table with our own family. It is a distraction from what is happening NOW. It is also an unconscious attempt to blame something in the distant past for our present predicament, instead of containing the courage to take full responsibility for our present circumstances. Unfortunately, this distraction is encouraged by whatever parasites we host as a consequence of artificially opening our energy systems through addictive behavior. These presences distract us as long as we buy into the blame game. Until we perceive their ploy through the content of our reactive and self-destructive behavior patterns, they continue to project images into our awareness to seduce, confuse, and distract us, just as we are projecting self-serving images into the awareness of those around us. We cannot be alone, separated, or lost; we only think it to be so. This is the power and potential destructiveness of the focus of our thoughts and the parasitic energies we entertain in our present life experiences when we misuse drugs. Our perception of being alone is caused by an externalization of our attention and a lack of inner awareness. We must cultivate this inner awareness because it is not possible for anyone else to accomplish this for us. But the question is: Do we care? Here is a barometer for us to measure our intent by: In the opening chapter called RECALIBRATING OUR INTENTION, we spoke about our C.A.S.T., our Compassionate Attention Support Team. We also spoke about mirror-work and how to talk to ourselves and give ourselves the attention we are fishing for from the outside world. If we are reading this book and are in the midst of an addictive experience, the revealing question is: Have we taken any steps to have an honest conversation with ourselves in the mirror yet? If not, our intention to overcome our predicament is remains inauthentic. We are still fooling ourselves. Not taking the simple and practical advice given to us in the beginning of this book is evidence we are still faking it; we are waiting for someone to come along and fix us. We are not making the best of what we are given. OUR
ACTIONS ALWAYS REVEAL THE AUTHENTIC RESONANCE OF OUR INTENT.

To overcome any addictive experience requires more than reading, talking, thinking about it, and discussing it with others. It requires more than a moments attempt at inner child work; it requires a complete perceptual overhaul of how we interact with ourselves and our world. When we are entertaining an addictive experience, it is because we do not love ourselves; this is the core issue we are dealing with. When we do not love ourselves, everything causes us fear. When we do not love ourselves then we have nothing real to give this world, then our energy is all about getting. WHEN WE ARE NOT FOCUSING ON WHAT WE CHOOSE TO GIVE, THEN WE ARE FOCUSING ON WHAT WE NEED OR WANT TO GET. NO IN-BETWEEN STATE EXISTS. LOVE IS GIVEN. When we love, value, appreciate, acknowledge, and validate ourselves, we cannot stick a needle into our veins and inject junk into our precious body. How could we? We do this to ourselves because we hate ourselves. We hate ourselves because we cannot yet perceive ourselves. When we are waiting for the world to step forward and love, value, appreciate, acknowledge, and validate us, so we feel good enough to not hurt ourselves anymore, we

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wait for eternity. It is not the worlds responsibility to accomplish this for us. The world does not owe any of us anything, least of all love. We must stop behaving as though it does. The world is a mirror; it is neutral. Its job is to reflect us. WE
BECOME FILLED UP WITH WHAT WE PLACE INTO THIS WORLD.

While we seek love, value, appreciation, acknowledgment, and validation through a needle, a substance, or a behavior, and through those who support this self-destruction, we do not receive it from ourselves. It is necessary to die to that entire world to awaken to the authentic one awaiting us through the porthole of activating our experience of present moment awareness. It is necessary to die to those friends, clothes, music, pastimes, foods, and all the other outer drug-related ornaments we decorate and adorn our lives with. It is necessary to let go of all the drug-related paraphernalia that entered our life from the moment we experienced our first dose. It is all part of the trip. Are we prepared to die to all of this? Are we prepared to walk away from this addictive experience with nothing but our own heart in our hands, battered as it may be? Are we prepared to stand naked in the world so we may learn how to clothe our own soul? Or, are we still secretly hoping for The White Knight to ride in at the last moment and save us? (It is not coming.) There is a big pay-off in perceiving ourselves as an addict. What is in this for us? Do we receive sympathy? Attention? Are others required to support us? Are others required to clear up after us? Are others required to speak for us? Are we not expected to stand on our own two feet?

When we entertain an addictive experience, we also emulate the behavior of the parasitic presences coming along for the ride; this means we too become a parasite in the lives of others. Of course we attempt to hide this fact by using negativity, criticism, cynicism, and judgement to shift attention away from us and onto the bad, bad world we live in. When we allow something to suck the life out of us, we are also sucking the life out of others around us. If we are intent on overcoming our addiction, it is necessary to look at our own parasitic behavior, acknowledge it, and seek sincerely to die to this way of being. WHEN
WE ENTERTAIN AN ADDICTIVE EXPERIENCE THEN OUR PRESENCE UPON THIS EARTH IS A NEEDLE IN THE VEINS OF OTHERS.

Is this the legacy we intend to leave in our wake, or at our wake? Do we choose to awake? Do we care? Overcoming any addiction is about growing up and learning how to give ourselves what we seek from the substance, or the behavior, or from those around us. It is necessary to overcome the poor me victim mentality and the f#*K you! victor mentality. Neither have the capacity to lift us beyond our self-imposed perceptual confinement. This is not an easy journey, and commencing it does not necessarily cause us to feel good, but no other way exists, no other way but to learn how to take responsibility for loving ourselves. We contain within us an ensemble of magnificence; an array of skilled and powerful aspects, attributes, and expressions, waiting to come to our rescue and lift us up to the higher

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place within ourselves from which there is no fall or toxic withdrawal. However, our inner resources cannot accomplish anything for us when we have no faith in them. When we instead choose to entertain parasitic behavior, inauthenticity, a quick fix, the lying we do to ourselves and hence everyone else, the stealing, cheating, and continual betrayal of those we love, this is the energetic nature of the unseen guests who make themselves at home within us. This is then the resonance of the congregation within our Inner Temple. To whom do they pray and what prayers, we may ask, are they praying on our behalf? Because they are praying on our behalf. Our addictive experience does not depart because someone else tells it to leave, or because we ask it to go to please someone else. It leaves when we stop feeding it time, energy, and attention. It leaves when we evict it. And it does not go willingly; it puts up a fight. It erupts into a war inside of us that is reflected everywhere in the world outside of us. This self-destructive experience may win battles and skirmishes, but when we do not give up, it loses the war. It loses because there is nothing in the entire creation more powerful than what awaits our discovery within ourselves. This war is our rite of passage to self-discovery; this is the path we chose to accentuate our awakening. When we sincerely turn to the resources within ourselves, not because we think we have to, but because our heart tells us this is the only way forward, the only action that now makes any sense, and the only act of love that counts, then we overcome. This is our life lesson: To discover there is no force greater in the mind-matrix than the collective, unified, C.A.S.T. within us. It is necessary to journey all the way through this fear to the other side of it to realize the extent of the shadowy veil we throw over our own life experience. The first step is being prepared to accept we are 100% responsible for our present predicament as it is right now. We did this to ourselves. We invited this in. No one is to blame. By attempting to pin the cause of our present predicament on a past life we are seeking to side-step personal responsibility, and to instead fuel the hellish flames of victim or victor mentality. While backing away from our fear in this manner, by projecting it into some distant scenario, or onto some distant devil, imaginary or not, we give our power away. Only love is real, and therefore by embracing the responsibility to actively channel unconditional love into our own heart are we able to move beyond these illusions. This is the only real assistance available to us: The love we give ourselves no matter what. No matter what happens, it is important to remember we are not a drug addict; we are a beautiful soul projecting itself into this lifetime to experience addiction because there is a great lesson here for us. We must intend to learn it, to keep taking the necessary action, to ask for Grace, to have faith in our purpose, and then we shall move through and beyond the challenges of our present circumstances. What other choice do we have? If we end this life experience without overcoming this predicament, we return and go through it again. Then this life becomes the past life causing us fear in our dreams. Then we shall be attempting to get back here to accomplish what we did not while we had the opportunity. Can we not perceive the ridiculousness of this endeavor? Can we not perceive how pointless it is to attempt to heal what is happening NOW by attempting to resolve what happened in a past life? Only THE NOW exists. Let us therefore let go of our preoccupation with past lives and choose instead to grow up and show up in this one, and forever free ourselves of this repetitive nightmare. Fear is the key.

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PART V: QUESTIONS ASKED AFTER COMPLETING THE PRESENCE PROCESS

1. A friend is struggling with their life experience, how do we persuade them to do The Presence Process? We dont. Unless someone says, Please help me, all our attempts are interference. If we pick someone up and carry them out of sympathy and concern, when the time comes for us to put them down, and this moment always comes, their feet land in the exact spot from where we picked them up. It is natural to comfort someone in distress, which is one of the reasons why we are together in this world, but when the time comes to take the actions necessary to move out of our uncomfortable experience, our own footprints must blaze the trail. No one can carry us. None are excluded from this arrangement. Interference is to act out of fear, to believe something wrong is unfolding in anothers life. Interference stems from a belief that anothers behavior adversely affects us; we therefore feel compelled to sedate or control them with our good deeds and advice. Indulging in interference stems from believing we are not responsible for the quality of our life experiences. When we know we are, we know anothers experience cannot affect us, and no matter how devastating anyones circumstances appear, they are always experiencing the consequences of their own thoughts, words, and deeds. We also know that when someone is going through a challenging time, it is their drama. It passes. Our emphasis is therefore not on their drama, but on the going through. WE
MANIFEST OUTER DRAMA TO GAIN ATTENTION FROM THE WORLD. ONE IMPACTING THE QUALITY OF OUR LIFE EXPERIENCE.

WE

DO THIS BECAUSE WE DO NOT YET KNOW WE ARE THE

We are all called upon to experience compassion for our fellow humans, but not to interfere with their journey through this world. Compassion is not the act of diving into someone elses life and rescuing them out of sympathy and concern. Compassion is being present with them as they go through their life lessons. This is challenging, especially when our own dramas are not yet resolved, because then we are driven to assist them through reflection, in hopes of easing our own inner discomforts. The deepest level of compassion arises from understanding that real human suffering is being unaware we are responsible for our thoughts, words, and deeds. One of the most challenging accomplishments in life, and this pertains particularly to those closest to us, is to let another walk their own path so they experience an opportunity to learn this lesson. Of course, when they approach us and say, Is there another way? My way does not work. You cope with life differently. Can you assist me or point me in the right direction?, then we are invited in and given license to enter their realm of activity. Our pearls therefore do not land in a swine pit. When someones struggle is affecting us deeply, instead of fiddling with them, the best course of action is to focus our energy on resolving the emotional turmoil this is initiating within us. Otherwise we are cleaning the mirror to erase the blemishes on our face. The pull to accomplish emotional growth, and the will to move through the challenges it places before us, come from within. We cannot enter The Presence Process, or any emotional growth procedure, as a reaction to others, or because we are persuaded by others. There is no harm in handing them a copy of THE PRESENCE PROCESS and suggesting they might benefit from reading it, as long as we take this action unconditionally. WHEN
WE NEED PERSUADING TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF OUR LIFE EXPERIENCE, WE ARE NOT YET READY; WE DO NOT YET CONTAIN THE EMOTIONAL CAPACITY TO SET OUT ON THIS JOURNEY.

When someone is ready to grow they behave this way; they ask questions and listen enthusiastically when we share insights about our growth experiences with them. They require no persuasion to investigate potential growth opportunities. When it is necessary to

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coerce them they are not ready and we are most likely seeing our own inner emotional plight reflected in their circumstances, and are projecting our issues upon them. There is no benefit in running around frantically and attempting to douse the burning houses in our street when our own house is ablaze. It is sensible to first extinguish our own inner fires, establishing our house as a place of shelter and safety for those yet to accomplish this. Living in this world is about overcoming many obstacles and challenges. This entails a great inner struggle. This struggle is our source of strength, wisdom, and compassion. Chances are, as we walk our path we shall witness many souls who are in the midst of their inner struggle. When we insist on using our energy to attempt to save them, especially when we are not asked to, not only are we depriving them from gaining strength, wisdom, and compassion, but we are distracting ourselves. We can spend our whole life cleaning mirrors, it wont accomplish anything. 2. THE PRESENCE PROCESS states there is no facilitators in this procedure, why is this? intention to train

Numerous sub-intents are interwoven into the primary intent of The Presence Process. One of these is to initiate a shift within our perception that transforms our behavior from getting to giving; to learn how to give ourselves what we have been attempting to get from the world. In a time-based paradigm it is acceptable to behave as though everything of value originates from the outer world, as though we perceive ourselves to be nothing more than animated organic robots, built to follow instructions coming from others. When we seek happiness, we turn to the possessions and activities of the world. When we seek knowledge, we ask someone else or read books. When we seek health, we visit a doctor. When we seek God, we go to a member of the priesthood, an outer temple, or a holy book. In this respect we behave as though we are empty, as though there is nothing worth looking for inside ourselves, as though we are inanimate, hollow machinery. While we operate in a time-based paradigm this too is how we are treated by the world at large; the world reflects our behavior toward ourselves. BECAUSE
WITHIN US.

THE DARK AGE OF LINEAR TIME-BASED LIVING, IT IS NOT APPARENT TO US YET THAT EVERYTHING WE SEEK IS FOUND WE ALSO DO NOT REALIZE THAT EVERYTHING MANUFACTURED BY HUMANITY AND MANIFESTED OUTWARDLY INTO THE WORLD COMES FROM WITHIN US, OR THAT THE WORLD IS A MIRROR REFLECTING OUR COLLECTIVE INTERNAL CONDITION.
OF

Take a light bulb for example. When we ask our children where a light bulb comes from, their answer may be the drawer in the kitchen, a shop, or a factory. We accept these answers as correct, because as adults in this world, this is how we think. Yet a light bulb does not come from any of these places; it comes from our imagination. Once upon a time a light bulb was a flash of inspiration activated by a human within the mind-matrix; it existed as pure energy, a thought-form, a visionary potentiality, a question asked by curious consciousness, a creative visualization. It did not appear packaged in a box in a factory, or in a shop, or in the kitchen drawer. It came from within. It was inspired; it went from existing as an undefined potential of pure energy, to being an emotionally-driven thought-form, a collection of interconnected concepts, and only then did it go through the procedure of being molded from matter, manufactured, and marketed to the world. Therefore, where do light bulbs come from? Every aspect of our manufactured world travels this same route; initially emerging from within, and only then manifesting outward into the world. WHEN
SOMETHING MATTERS TO US, WE MATERIALIZE IT.

When we contemplate this ability, and consider that it exists within every human being on the planet, we appreciate how much untapped potential there is in this world. What is possible when we put our hearts and heads together with common intent? This pathway of manifestation is the same for every book written; they all come from within. Information may come from books, but knowledge comes from within and is actively awoken and manifested outwardly into our world through an energetic interface called experience.

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TO

THINK KNOWLEDGE COMES FROM BOOKS IS THE HEIGHT OF IGNORANCE.

This mistaken perceptual predicament, that there is nothing of value within us, and that all we seek is to be found out there, causes us to give our power away, or to not consider tapping into our own power at all. As a consequence of this perceptual error, the cry of humanity is outward. It is a cry saying, Fix me, show me, help me, tell me, carry me, and love me. This is why we easily give ourselves over to being governed by individuals who exhibit the emotional maturity of a seven-year-old and the mental comprehension of a teenager. This is why we listen when they tell us to fight with another group of children in the worlds playground because they are not playing ball a certain way. We assume because they are louder, and because the podiums they stand upon make them appear taller, that they know more than us. Consequently, we eat what we are fed, watch what we are shown, believe the history that is taught, vote for the candidates placed before us, and pray to the deities carved in stone and wood. Our addiction to externalizing ourselves, to believing power comes from out there, make us ready prey for the parasitic currents that wash across this planet; presences happily feeding and strengthening themselves on the ongoing emotional banquet of externalized human drama. Consequently, the reality we construct for ourselves now, is that in this world we perceive it as normal to hand the intimacies of our well-being over to be facilitated by others without question. We hand the hope of our souls over to our parents, teachers, priests, lecturers, doctors, nutritionists, astrologists, therapists, politicians, corporate leaders, movie stars, and anyone else with a suitably impressive resume. We assume because another studies books in an expensive institution with a fancy name they know more about what is better for us than we do. This is because in a time-based paradigm we assume information is knowledge. This is also because we contain no capacity for discernment; a side-effect of lacking felt-perception. We therefore turn ourselves over and outward to others instead of inward to ourselves. We have lost faith in ourselves, therefore we have lost faith. The Presence Process does not buy into this mentality. It is therefore not a medium destined to being exploited by those of us who know how to gobble up book information and then spit it out as though we know what we are talking about, as if we have real knowledge. THE PRESENCE PROCESS side-steps this. When we take the time and energy to facilitate ourselves through the prescribed experience offered by the experiential procedure in the book, it enables us to awaken from this delusionary plight and realize, through experience, that we can competently carry ourselves. Over a period of 13 weeks, The Presence Process gives us the opportunity to accumulate real life experience. This activates the knowing that we contain within us all we seek and much more than is possible for us to imagine at this point in our evolution. OUR
POTENTIAL IS TO BE SELF-CONTAINED BECAUSE OUR SELF CONTAINS EVERYTHING WITHIN OUR POTENTIAL.

We are the teacher, priest, doctor, and life coach we are looking for. Our C.A.S.T. is our crew. Because of our conditioning and the time-based paradigm we are raised in, we may not yet know this. The Presence Process therefore seeks to give us a real experience of our own inner possibilities by showing us the power inherent in making internal adjustments as opposed to distracting ourselves with outer rearrangements. It does not encourage us to buy into yet another illusory outer power source; everything about it is causal, pointing us inward. However, this does not negate the blessing of outer facilitation. If we are blessed with the experience of crossing paths with an authentic facilitator in this world, someone who neither needs or wants anything from us, someone whose integrity is impeccable, their momentary presence in our field assists us greatly, as does any clear mirror. In this day and Age, as in any time of our human history, these instances are rare. They cannot be sought out; they are given. Because this is an ask and we shall receive universe, those of us who sincerely seek this level of facilitation will cross paths with a being like this. In Truth they are an external manifestation of our inner act of approaching the radiance of our Inner Presence. When such an outer encounter does Grace us, we must be ready and willing to look deeply into this mirror, and not be frightened by it to the point that we run and hide from the opportunity it provides to initiate inner work. If we are in the habit of fooling ourselves, these beings, though kind and infinitely compassionate, are not nice to be around. Their presence in our field

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activates change, unconditionally, and though we may think we are ready for this, none of us are ever really prepared to face the consequences of this level of confrontation with ourselves. NOW, as we grow into integrated adults, and as we increasingly value the place of emotional growth in our evolution, we can learn an immense amount from being in the presence of an authentic facilitator. Their greatest value is they are able, by their own example, to teach us how to facilitate ourselves into rediscovering our own untapped and unlimited potential. This is the gift they give us, for in the context of their own evolution, this is what they come into this world to give to themselves. Now, as we move deeper and deeper into the flow of BEING OUR COMPANION, as we approach the procedures for activating emotional body awareness, we are invited to widen our horizons about what we think the nature of self-facilitation is about. As we do, let us not become vulnerable to being led astray again by putting our energy into seeking out an outer facilitator to help us, or boost our ego by assuming we contain what is required to facilitate others. Let us first learn everything we can about facilitating ourselves. This is the authentic place to take up our journey. To assist us to take another step in this direction, towards trusting ourselves implicitly to take care of ourselves, let us use the question that initiated this discussion to dive deeper into the resonance of facilitation. Let us accomplish this by seeking to understand the function an authentic facilitator performs in a world imprisoned in a time-based paradigm. Through integrating this we are better able to facilitate ourselves beyond this perceptual confinement. As we elevate our life experience into one in which we are an example of a selffacilitator in action, and adopt this as our way of being in this world, we are already playing this role for others. It is unnecessary to put a sign on the door, place an advert in a publication, or be listed in any healing directory to fulfill our purpose. It is unnecessary to tell another soul. ONLY
CHANGE THE CONDITION OF THE FABRIC OF OUR HUMANITY, AND HENCE THE ENTIRE TAPESTRY OF OUR EXPERIENCE OF THIS WORLD FOREVER. WHEN WE, AS AN INDIVIDUAL THREAD, ARE ABLE TO DO UNTO OURSELVES AS WE WOULD HAVE OTHERS DO, ARE WE ABLE TO

Let us explore facilitation accordingly. To accomplish this we can examine the role of an authentic facilitator as an outer agent entering our space to serve us. This enables us to shed more light on what we are referring to when we use the words facilitator or facilitation in the context of our intent to enter present moment awareness. Keep in mind the model we use here to explore authentic facilitation is the ideal; it is the experience we encounter when we place ourselves in the presence of an individual whose emotional body awareness is activated, and who is therefore able to assist us to perceive the self-created obstacles inhibiting us from accessing this level of awareness. The level of facilitation we are examining here is therefore not necessarily the method used, for example, by this author, to carry out one-on-one facilitation with individuals personally guided through The Presence Process. For the purpose of The Presence Process, whether we move through it in a book, or through the personal guidance of this author, we are primarily pointed towards the task of opening ourselves to being facilitated by our Inner Presence, with the intent of evolving to a point where we become aware we are self-contained self-facilitators. This author, unless otherwise requested, stays true to the intent of The Presence Process; to at every opportunity place this responsibility of facilitation into our own hands. Let us now commence our journey into the caliber of experience expected when we invite an encounter with an authentic outer facilitator. An authentic facilitator is one who comes into our midst through the power of our intent to assist us to exorcise our inner demons. It is therefore accurate to describe an authentic facilitator as an exorcist. The shadows cast by the inner demons they assist us to become aware of, that possess us to a point of temporarily robbing our souls of authentic expression in this world, manifest on three different levels:

PHYSICALLY; as habitual behavior patterns, possessions we cling to or strive for, or addictive substances we abuse.

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MENTALLY; as self-limiting belief systems, self-effacing thought patterns, and as habitual worrying or any negative and self-destructive thinking.

EMOTIONALLY; as the externalized drama of fear, anger, grief, and any of the emotional dysfunctions arising from this trinity of emotional discomfort. This includes the emotional resonances propelling greed, lust, and avenues of emotional deceit. No matter how our inner demons manifest in our outer life experience, an authentic facilitators only concern is to cut the weed at the root; to steer us into making causal adjustments to this aspect of our life experience. They know that these possessive experiences are given life through our conscious and unconscious entertainment of them, our mistaken and misguided belief in them, and our erroneously seeing them as something controlling us beyond the power of our personal will. Our facilitator also knows these presences must, like us, eat to stay alive, and that the nutrition feeding and strengthening them while they reside within our energy field is the emotional energy manufactured through our outer dramatizations of fear, anger, and grief. Our negative emotional charge, and our relationship with it, is therefore a banquet table, an array of delicious delights, serving to please the appetite of any possessive parasitic presence in our energy field. For this reason, an authentic facilitator does not entertain drama. The crux of their task is to cut this food source by teaching us how to neutralize our negative emotional charge. An authentic facilitator may share information with us, but is not a teacher. They may council us, but they are not a councilor. They may listen to our interpretations of what we think is happening to us, but they are not a therapist. Like our Inner Presence when playing the role of the messenger, an authentic facilitator may express themselves in whatever physical, mental, or emotional manner is required to accomplish their task, but cannot be identified by any of these expressions. Possibly the most appropriate word to describe the resonance of a facilitator is the word, mirroring. The task of an authentic facilitator is to reflect what we cannot, and in most cases, do not choose to perceive about ourselves. To accomplish this function they are required to be nothing and nobody. Instead, they become an empty available space, allowing themselves to be filled with the energy of whatever we hide from ourselves. They are as neutral, as clear, and as honest as a mirror. A good metaphor in describing an authentic facilitator is a chameleon-mirror. A chameleon-mirror does not use its ability to change its appearance for the purpose of camouflaging itself, instead it uses this ability to reveal to those who come in close contact with it what they are hiding from themselves. Authentic facilitators are born into this world, not trained by it. They are raised by Life and not by the living. It is challenging to train an authentic facilitator because it is challenging to teach someone how to become nobody and nothing. The world conditions us into believing we are supposed to be somebody or something to be of any value at all, and that the more others know of who and what we are, the more valuable our worldly status is. It is therefore challenging to teach someone how to betray this ingrained belief system, and themselves, for the benefit of another, which is one of the tasks an authentic facilitator is required to carry out. Facilitation, in this context, is by its nature ego-destroying, because it is about agreeing to assist others in destroying their manufactured egos. Therefore, only those with an authentic ego death-wish entertain this responsibility. The profound concept of being facilitated by someone who is of themselves being nothing or nobody, who is in a state of not-doing, may initially be challenging for us to grasp, because the world in general contains no context for what a real facilitator is or does. The intent of The Presence Process is to gradually open our mind and introduce us to the concept of authentic facilitation through the use of the expression the messenger and the experience of being set up. It introduces us to a dimension of interaction between two human beings beyond our traditional understanding of therapists, councilors, and healers (TPP/Pg 142). The moment we grasp the concept of messengers and of being set up, we are able to comprehend the role of an authentic facilitator. In our minds we automatically associate the function of a facilitator with what we already know of the role of therapists and councilors, combined with the behavior we witness in therapeutic healers. Therefore, the immediate assumption is that a facilitator is someone who is nice, who makes us feel comfortable and safe, etc. Or, that they are someone who gives us a secure environment in which to express ourselves. This is correct; they do serve this purpose, but this is only part of the story. This is the part of the story we focus on when

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we declare we want to be a facilitator, or to be facilitated. Aside from the propensity for gentleness and kindness, an authentic facilitator is also required to be rude, insensitive, needy, devious, or seductive; to reflect whatever dysfunctional behavior we are hiding from ourselves. The question is: How many of us are detached enough from the importance of our reputations that we are willing to deface ourselves by portraying negative behavior patterns for the benefit of another? When in the healing industry or the business of spirituality we do our best to portray an untarnished reputation of goodness, and what we think is compassion, because these are good business ethics. The catch-22 is, the moment we turn healing, or any aspect of our spirituality, into an industry or business, we turn our inner propensity for being a prophet to others into making a profit out of others, and hence render ourselves immune from being authentic, let alone facilitators. WHEN
OUR PURPOSE IS DEPENDENT ON OR DETERMINED BY MONETARY PROFIT, THE RESONANCE OF AUTHENTICITY CANNOT BE ACCOMPLISHED.

An authentic facilitator cannot perform their service for money. On some level there is always an energy exchange, but their choice to function as a facilitator is not determined by monetary gain; it unfolds in spite of it. Being an authentic facilitator therefore cannot be a job or a profession; it is a calling, a way of being in the world. An authentic facilitator invests no importance in their reputation. When they are carrying out their tasks they are prepared to be hated, despised, misunderstood, harshly judged, and seldom seen, until of course the individual they are facilitating gets it. When we are sitting in a pile of our own feces, and we then ask to be facilitated, the task of a facilitator is not to make us feel comfortable and secure about our predicament because they do not want to appear harsh, or to upset our feelings, or have us and others to think poorly of them. Their task is to assist us to smell our feces, to taste it, so we become repulsed enough by our circumstances to leap beyond them. If this entails them standing in our midst, looking, tasting, and smelling of the feces we are hiding from ourselves, this is what they do. Therefore, another question we may ask is: Who in their right mind wants to voluntarily perform such a task? But this too is only part of it. A facilitator, when carrying out their task, does not consciously decide what role to play to perform the service of becoming a mirror of the plight of whomever they are facilitating; they allow themselves to be possessed by that individuals shadow as instructed by their own Inner Presence. To enter such a field of play is not something we can study for and be taught to do by another. It is a path of service that we walk upon because it is where our feet are placed by God. To be able to perform this task we must first learn to be this for ourselves. Until we thoroughly identify, see through, face, and overcome our own possessive plights, we do not contain the physical, mental, or emotional capacity to facilitate another. We are not energetically qualified. An authentic facilitator does not shout angrily at us because they surmise, through thoughtful deliberation, that having our own aggressive behavior mirrored for us is what is required; they feel our hidden venom boil up within themselves, and they allow it to, because they trust that everything, in every moment, is unfolding according to their intent to facilitate us. They know through personal experience that they are able to contain and channel this energy. They do not personally identify with it. Through having dealt with their own inner demons, they have learnt to discern what is theirs from what is being hosted. Therefore, when aggressive shouting emerges from the facilitator for the purpose of mirroring, it is authentic anger; it is the real energetic experience flowing through them. An authentic facilitator is therefore not someone who is just good at the role of pretending; they allow themselves to become the role required to accomplish the task. This aspect of facilitation, this allowing of oneself to become and be possessed by whatever is required to be mirrored in the moment, is an experience impossible for us to allow when our ego is well established. A person with a well-established ego happily takes on a saintly role, but they do not bedevil themselves for the benefit of another. How do we train someone to be this for us? How do we train ourselves to be this for another? One of the best descriptions of the resonance of an authentic facilitator is given by Jesus in The Gospel of Thomas. He said:

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MEN AND

THINK

COME TO THROW PEACE UPON THIS WORLD,

THEY DO NOT KNOW

I COME TO THROW DIVISIONS FIRE, SWORD, WAR.

UPON THE EARTH,

This declaration tells us the personality manufactured for Jesus by our traditional Christian religion, that he was a nice person, is inaccurate and misguiding. It is a makebelieve saintly mask that makes it impossible for any congregation member to move through the stages of emotional growth leading to authenticity. Jesus as The Christ was not a nice person; He was a real person as much as He was nothing and nobody. This is why He could charge into a temple, madly cracking a whip, shouting and screaming like a crazed lunatic, overturning tables, and chasing out the money-lenders. In that moment He was not angry, but He was anger. Nor was He the slightest bit concerned about His personal reputation; He was mirroring the hidden fear of the money-lenders and the suppressed rage of those whom they abused. He was allowing Himself to be possessed by what they were hiding within themselves. Jesus was a kind and marvelous human being, with a heart big enough to mirror the suffering of the entire planet, but we would not have wanted to enter His presence wrapped in a cloak of self-demeaning inauthenticity. If we had, out of His love for us He would have wielded the sword of truth to mirror what we are hiding from ourselves and to set fire to our illusions, causing a war to break out between our authentic identity and our manufactured ego. No one taught Jesus how to accomplish this; He was born into it. His life experience and how He responded to it qualified Him for His destined role. This is why He was disliked by the establishment; not because he was a nice person to be around, but because His level of honesty was not appreciated by those who paid homage to the living but not to Life. Jesus was and is still a mirror; He remains powerful because, in terms of being a personality, He does not exist. He died to personality before He began facilitating the world. He appeared as what His disciples and those who came to Him for guidance needed to perceive of themselves to achieve authenticity. He is one of the most profound examples of an authentic facilitator witnessed by humanity in our limited recorded history. Did He leave peace on earth in His wake? No, this was not His intention. No authentic facilitator intends peace on earth; they teach us to be at peace within ourselves as we walk the earth. To this day His momentary Presence, timed to deliver humanity into The Piscean Age, continues to wield a sword that brings fire and war to any individual or community attaching itself to an illusion of what they are, and therefore, what God is. While we live in a time-based paradigm, our ego is so entrenched that none of us honestly seek to be facilitated. We may declare we do, we may ask for it, but this is only because we contain no idea of what we are asking for. When we request facilitation, we want to be made to feel comfortable and safe about the illusions we entertain. We are asking, Please assist me to feel good about feeling bad. When our request to be facilitated is accepted, an authentic facilitator is not agreeing to do this. They agree to become the shadow we hide from ourselves and from everybody else. When we request facilitation the real issue requiring our attention does not yet exist for us; only the effects of its presence are visible. Consequently, our reason for asking for assistance is based on the effects, and this is why it is a shock to our system when the facilitator mirrors the unseen cause. Once their services are requested, an authentic facilitator accepts that by agreeing to play this role for us the outcome moves in one of two directions:

THE FIRST OUTCOME IS: We perceive our illusion, are brave enough to look deeply into it, voluntarily allow it to surface, and therefore are driven uncontrollably into an experience of our own fear, anger, and grief. By allowing this surfacing experience to shatter the misconceptions we have constructed about ourselves, we move through them and come out the other side laughing hysterically at ourselves! Of course, this is the outcome all facilitators are open to, but they are by no means attached to it, because they know there is the possibility of outcome number two. THE SECOND OUTCOME IS: We take a brief glance at the illusion the facilitator mirrors, feel the surfacing fear, anger, and grief, and run in absolute terror back into the environment in which we can hide ourselves from ourselves and from everyone else. This second

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outcome is most likely to occur when we are not yet authentic about seeking to overcome our predicament. Just as there are few authentic facilitators on the planet at any given time, so are there few of us who sincerely choose to perceive the truth about our circumstances when we ask to be shown. When we opt for the second outcome, to run and hide again, the facilitator is again faced with one of two options: THE FIRST OPTION IS: They remain cloaked in the illusion manufactured for our benefit; they keep tracking us down, waving their sword menacingly, mirroring what we suppress and therefore causing the fire of fear and an internal war to wage within us until the task is complete. The risk in this course of action is that we may run so deeply into hiding, the chances of venturing out into the open again in search of assistance may be obliterated. The facilitator therefore only adopts this menacing stance when confident we have the strength to go the course. If we are not yet grounded enough to face ourselves, the facilitator allows the second option to unfold.

THE SECOND OPTION IS: The illusion being mirrored by them is dismantled. They apologize profusely for their misjudgement, for their misguided behavior, and for their failure to accomplish what was asked of them. They voluntarily demean and betray themselves so we feel safe again. The facilitator does this knowing full well we will turn on them, wield blame, accuse them of betrayal, and all manner of heinous atrocities. Of course, all of these dramatic accusations are unfounded and illusionary; they are no different to someone shouting at a movie screen because the film they are watching causes them fear. The main frequency fueling our emotional reactions towards the facilitator under these circumstances is rage and a dramatized pretence of being hurt by them in some way. Often, we summon the world to our side to defend our honor so as to distract everyone from what we are running and hiding from; the truth about ourselves. Yet, the only pain inflicted is the shock of us seeing our own frightening shadow.

The reason why this second option is necessary, called a voluntary retreat into disgrace, also known as, gracefully backing away, is because at this stage of the facilitation we must be protected from ourselves. This protection is required because we are not yet strong enough to look into the mirror, and therefore are to be prevented from comprehending what we saw about ourselves until the moment is ripe. WHATEVER
WE ACCUSE OUR FACILITATOR OF IS WHAT WE ARE SHOWN BY THEM ABOUT OURSELVES THAT WE ARE NOT YET READY TO LOOK AT.

Even when we run into hiding again as a consequence of this frightening experience, an authentic facilitator knows no time and effort is wasted. All of us, depending on the intensity of the illusion we cling too, experience a few advances and retreats before we are able to stand our ground and face our self-created illusions. Retreating is not shameful; this is part of our dance into the light. Authentic facilitators know that all who ask for facilitation, whether they are sincere or not, whether they run and hide or not, at some point overcome their predicament. There is no doubt in this; it is a matter of time, and sometimes, a matter of lifetimes. When we finally overcome our fear, we perceive the whole scenario in the light of a profound revelation, and we then understand what the facilitator sacrificed to keep us in the game; everything and nothing. A facilitator does not give up on anyone when their services are requested; it is a life commitment to Life and not to the personality of the living individual. As circumstances change, facilitators flow patiently along the currents of time and space, taking action again whenever it most benefits the well-being of the facilitated. Accordingly, when an authentic facilitator appears to be entering our present life experience for the first time, this may not be the case at all; they may be picking up where they left off from another life experience altogether. A wonderful example of an authentic facilitator at work is of the personality in Christianity we know as Judas. Judas was Jesus closest and most trusted companion. Judas knew Jesus plan to facilitate His disciples and the communities in which He operated into

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looking into their most terrifying mirror by His allowing Himself to be publicly crucified. The public crucifixion was Jesus demonstration of entering Life by overcoming the fear of death. If we think a human as aware as Jesus was crucified by accident, or that the event was in any way beyond His will, and that He Himself did not purposely set it up, we completely underestimate Whom and What He is. Not only did He set Himself up to publicly demonstrate the conscious cleaving of matter from spirit, of dying consciously, but He had Judas as a willing accomplice. This was because Judas was the only one He could trust to obediently carry out the required instructions. Judas, by His actions, also became one of the most profound examples of authentic facilitation when He embraced the role of the betrayer for all in time. Not until our humanity enters present moment awareness shall we collectively comprehend the magnitude of this act of bravery, love, and unfathomable compassion. The power of Judas kiss on Jesus cheek is incomprehensible in time. Like us, when we perceive our hidden fears mirrored for us, and therefore run from our initial request to be facilitated, religious organizations also do this by accusing Judas of being a betrayer. JUDAS
IS DESPISED BY US BECAUSE

HIS

ACT IN THAT MOMENT, WHICH WE CALLED BETRAYAL, SHOWS US, THROUGH THE INTIMATE

BEAUTY OF A KISS, WHAT OUR ORGANIZED RELIGIOUS GROUPS DO TO OUR CONTINUAL BETRAYAL OF OURSELVES, AND OF

GOD. JUDAS

FACILITATES US TO PERCEIVE OUR LACK OF AUTHENTICITY.

GOD. JUDAS

MIRRORS, FOR US ALL, THE HIDDEN FACE OF

WE

THEREFORE HATE

HIM. YET, HE IS NOTHING AND NOBODY EXCEPT THE REVEALED PERSONALITY OF OUR OWN HIDDEN JUDAS KISS IS ONE OF JESUS MOST LOVING, MOST POWERFUL, PARTING GIFTS TO HUMANITY.

DARKNESS.

Is it possible to train someone to be as brave as Jesus and to be as shamed as Judas? No person with a healthy ego agrees to be falsely blamed and judged as a disgrace for all time. Only one who practices unconditional love undertakes this task. It is easy to train someone how to be nice to others, and how to make them feel comfortable and safe in their misery. But then one is missing the point by not bringing light to the true nature of suffering in this world. Real suffering is not the symptomatic conditions affecting us emotionally, mentally, or physically. REAL
SUFFERING IS BEING UNAWARE THAT ALL THE DISCOMFORT WE EXPERIENCE IN THIS WORLD IS CAUSED BY US.

Until we realize this we are incarcerated by our own self-made illusions. When we are an addict, it is because we are being the drug. When we are ill, it is because we are being the disease. When we are hungry, it is because we are being the poverty. When we are possessed, it is because we are possessive. A facilitators responsibility is to show us that when we are a victim to anything or anyone, it is because we are being the abuse. Once we perceive this, once we are prepared to look at the consequences of our own unconscious belief systems and the self-destructive experiences they spurn, we overcome. Then we laugh like little children at our own silliness. But until we reach this point, we turn on anyone who shows this to us, despite asking them to. This is why The Presence Process is not one of those modalities in which we scan the health section of the newspaper or a magazine to locate a registered facilitator, or in which we do a course and qualify to undertake this role. We can only learn how to facilitate ourselves by taking the actions to establish an intimate relationship with our Inner Presence. WE
CAN ONLY UNDERSTAND WHAT AUTHENTIC FACILITATION IS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF HOW WE MANAGE OUR OWN LIFE EXPERIENCE.

Being able to learn the art of facilitating ourselves is one of the opportunities offered by our experiential journey through The Presence Process. Then, when we are brave enough, we can ask our Inner Presence to manifest an outer facilitator to reflect what we cannot yet bear to perceive about ourselves. When we are blessed with the company of a being like this, and when we overcome the ordeal of them showing us our fear, only then may we consider taking on the task of being an authentic facilitator for another. Nobody needs or wants to facilitate another. Those of us who need or want to do this are too attached to the task to be useful to anyone. As soon as we ask, Am I a good facilitator? or Am I a bad facilitator? we already lose our ability to be effective. Nobody enjoys this job-description and there is no way to gauge the consequences of doing it. This

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calling goes beyond a requirement for personal satisfaction. Being an authentic facilitator is a horribly beautiful curse carried in ones heart for the love of God. As it is stated in THE PRESENCE PROCESS that no facilitators are to be trained, it is done so with an absolute knowing that those of us who are selected for this task by Life always step forward without anyones permission to do so; in one hand to carry the word, responsibility, in the other, consequence, and through it all to be carried only by God. Now that we contain a magnified explanation of what an authentic facilitator is, we may discover we are experiencing an adjustment in our perception of the people and circumstances in our life experience we initially ran towards for help, and then ran from back into hiding. While we live in a time-based paradigm, we all go through this dance on some level. WHATEVER WHATEVER
WE RUN TOWARDS IN THIS OUTER WORLD IS WHAT WE BELIEVE MAY HELP US TO PERCEIVE WHAT WE ARE HIDING FROM OR ABOUT OURSELVES. WE RUN AWAY FROM IN THIS WORLD IS WHAT IS SHOWING US SOMETHING ABOUT OURSELVES WE ARE NOT YET READY TO SEE.

THERE

IS NO EXCEPTION TO THIS PREDICAMENT.

Only when we are able to be still, grateful, and at peace in the face of all our life experiences do we overcome the spell of time. The opportunity to accomplish this is presenting itself NOW. Now that we have a deeper understanding of the role of authentic facilitation in the context of a time-based paradigm, we are better equipped to become this for ourselves, and so to journey deeper into the experience of present moment awareness. 3. Why is it necessary to continue our breathing practice after Session 10?

It is recommended we keep connecting our breathing twice a day for at least 15 minutes, for three to six months after completing The Presence Process. We are encouraged to embrace this practice as part of the rock upon which we build our inner pathway towards activating an experiential awareness of what Life is. At some point we will let it go, because although breath connects us to Life, Life is beyond the necessity for breath. Consciously connected breathing is a rock for us because this simple practice is one of the most powerful and accessible causal tools we have on this planet. Once we extricate ourselves from the unconscious behavior of living in a time-based paradigm, this simple practice ensures we remain in responsive mode, instead of slipping back into our habitual reactive behavior patterns. It keeps us anchored in a present moment awareness frame of mind; one in which we remember we always sit in the center of our experiences, we always stand in the center of the consequences of our own actions, we always magnetize what it is we require to us, and therefore it is unnecessary to externalize ourselves into the world by chasing after needs and wants. Continuing our breathing practice magnetizes what most serves us into our experience, whether it is a book, a new friend, a modality of healing work, or a job. Everything about The Presence Process is causal. This means nothing finishes when we complete Session 10. A great way to relate to our experience of this Process is to look at it through the eyes of a gardener. Our journey into and through this Process is about weeding the unkempt garden of our life experiences, about preparing new beds for planting, and cultivating the seedlings we choose to grow for ourselves. We feel wonderfully satisfied after achieving completion of the experiential part of the procedure. This is because we took good care to weed, prepare, and cultivate our garden. Yet the best is to come; the fruits and flowers of our labour are still to be revealed. To realize the potential and extent of this harvest requires consistent devotion to weeding, watering, and attending to the seedlings as they pear above the soil. As our plants grow into maturity there are the tasks of pruning, raking, and fertilizing. This is to be attended to before we arrive at the experience of picking the flowers and eating the harvest of juicy fruit. This is why getting to the harvest, destination-consciousness, is to be avoided. It is better to embrace this as an ongoing journey, as a daily gardening practice, because much of the experience revolves around consistent cultivation and maintenance. Gardening is about consistency, not surges of sporadic behavior. It is about dancing with the ebb and flow of cycles, not focussing on static endpoints. When we stop attending to our breathing practice

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the moment we complete Session Ten, in spite of the recommendations to continue, this is proof we entered this experience as a means to an end and are still embracing destinationconsciousness; we are still hoping to be fixed and not open to the ongoing transformation of living a conscious life. Because our breathing practice opens a space in time in which we are vulnerable to our Inner Presence, it adds a resonance of knowing into the energetic undercurrent of our life experience, keeping it effortless, clear, enjoyable, and vibrant. It is unnecessary to understand how this works for us to work it. Also, this is not about easy or good; this is about keeping it real, about keeping our attention in the moment, and about approaching our life experience with emotional maturity. This is about doing what it takes for Heavens sakes. Even though we complete The Presence Process, it may still be challenging for some of us to comprehend what is being accomplished when we attend to our 15 minutes breathing twice a day. Sometimes the best way to integrate what the breathing accomplishes is by not attending to it for about a week or two. Sometimes, despite our intent to keep up with our practice, our Inner Presence facilitates us into entering this experience so we achieve this level of integration. When we cease our practice for a while, we notice that the resonance of our life experience changes; it is heavier, more unconscious, and decidedly less joyful. We also forget to wield our perceptual tools, we forget they even exist, and consequently re-enter reactive behavior. The majority of souls on earth operate in a time-based paradigm; when we do not maintain a frequency enabling us to ride above these unconscious waves, the current of the majority drags us under again. We remain vulnerable to these collective currents until we accumulate a powerful level of present moment awareness. We remain vulnerable until we activate emotional body awareness. The moment our life experience begins feeling heavier, and we put two and two together and realize we are not attending to our breathing, we re-enter our routine (our route in). The moment we recommence the breathing practice it is as though a veil is lifted and light comes pouring through our endeavours. Consequently, we comprehend the power of this simple present moment awareness activator. In this way these unscheduled breaks in our daily breathing routine come to show us the power of the practice. For many, many lifetimes we have lived unconsciously and hence reactively. In this respect we cannot expect ten weeks of processing to undo our addiction to this behavior; this is being unrealistic. By attending to our breathing practice for at least three to six months after completing the Process, we instil the frequency of responsibility as a way of our being in this world. With consistent application over time, we transform the nature of how we are in this world; we move about as divine alchemists, without putting thought into it, without any trying involved. We no longer engage in processing work as though it is something separate from our life experience; instead we become the process. At this stage there is no turning back. Then the quality of our life experience increases in joy, health, and abundance beyond our present comprehension. But first it requires consistent determination and perseverance. In this respect, discipline, repetition, consistency, and continuation are key words to imbed into our relationship with connected breathing. 4. After completing Session 10, how long do we the Process? wait before re-entering

Let us not entertain a frame of mind in which we are waiting for anything. As already explained in the previous answer, once we complete the Process it is in our best interest to keep attending to our breathing. It is also recommended we read through the entire book again, from cover to cover. This enhances and supports our ongoing experience of integration. We also experience many enjoyable Ahas! as the information begins walking hand in hand with our accumulated experience. This is how we give birth to real knowledge; we experience the Process first hand, and then give ourselves the opportunity to absorb the information from this powerful perspective. Consequently, the information in THE PRESENCE PROCESS meets us at a deeper and more meaningful level, because it is not just entering our awareness mentally, as it did when we first read the book; now we are interacting with it physically and emotionally as well. With this trinity activated we switch on internal light bulbs we do not know are switched off. Once we complete rereading THE PRESENCE PROCESS, it is advisable to take a break altogether from any conscious mental processing. Let us refrain from becoming processing

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junkies. It is still recommended during this time-out from conscious mental processing that we keep attending to our breathing practice as an ongoing commitment to maintain our daily level of present moment awareness. Allowing space and time for our experience of The Presence Process to digest, to breathe, is as beneficial as entering and completing it in the first place. It is important to give ourselves space to enjoy our new state of being, our new perspective on Life. APPRECIATING WHAT WE ACHIEVE FUELS OUR MOMENTUM TO ACCOMPLISH MORE. It is not recommended to set a schedule or to establish plans as to when we think we ought to re-enter the Process. It is better we intend a time after completing the experience for quietness and stillness, enabling us to listen, feel, and become vulnerable to the promptings of our Inner Presence. This is a good opportunity to activate a deeper relationship with our internal C.A.S.T. by spending quiet and still moments with ourselves; acknowledging what we accomplish, validating our bravery for facing our demons, opening ourselves to crystallizing the clarity of our intentions, and building momentum for the endless road ahead. It is recommended we keep up our mirror-work as a part of the way we facilitate ourselves through this world and not treat it as a temporary activity we need to finish so we may go onto something else. Making an authentic friend in this world requires time, experience, and unconditional input; let us do whatever is required to become this friend for ourselves and to ourselves. WE
ARE NOT SOMETHING WE ARE ATTEMPTING TO FINISH SO WE MAY MOVE ONTO SOMETHING ELSE.

By opening ourselves to this resonance, by establishing an intimate relationship with ourselves, we will intuitively know when it is time to re-enter the Process. It may be after three weeks, or two months, or a year. It may be not be necessary for us to re-enter it at all. It is different for everyone. However, when our Inner Voice instructs us to begin, we are not to resist or procrastinate. Often, when The Presence Process comes to mind, accompanied by a feeling of great inner resistance, this is a sure sign that it is time to re-enter.

5. When we assist the body to heal itself by exercising a proper lifestyle and nutritional habits, it does so in an order of a priority determined by the consciousness of the body. Is there also an unfolding priority in neutralizing our negative emotional charge? Yes. This is a realization evident in hindsight. A wonderful metaphor to illustrate this systematic unravelling of our unresolved issues by our Inner Presence is reflected in attempting to untangle a ball of string nested with knots. When we give the tangled mess to a young child, they try, but do not succeed in untangling it, because they attempt to do so based on what visually appears to be the obvious cause of the knotted mess. When we spend time untangling anything, we know from experience that what often looks like the obvious place to begin is usually not. When it comes to untangling string, we have to carefully work around the various clusters of knots, pulling here, threading there, untwisting this; the process is not obvious. Decisions are moment by moment determined by previous accomplishments. Sometimes the smallest, most insignificant looking part of the tangle is the key to unravelling the entire mess. The unsuccessful child-like approach to untangling the knot is the frustrating predicament we experience when we attempt to control our journey through The Presence Process. This is because our assumptions about ourselves cause us to work with what appears on the surface as the most obvious issue requiring attention. This is why traditional verbalbased therapy is doomed. Through experiencing an emotionally-based procedure we discover that our obvious issues are not a cause of anything, but an effect of something else we are unaware of. This is why, throughout The Presence Process, we are asked to accept that it is

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from what we do not know that our most powerful moments of growth arise, not from what we think we know. By surrendering to the Process, which means following the instructions without meddling with them in any way, we open ourselves to an experience as described by this question; we witness our Inner Presence working according to an order of priority not initially appearing obvious or meaningful to us. In hindsight, our Inner Presence reveals itself as operating from pure incomprehensible genius. By not meddling via injected assumptions, we witness an intelligence moving systematically through the layers of our past, sometimes touching lightly on certain issues, then leaving them, and returning to them once again. Often this occurs chronologically, but not necessarily, because our Inner Presence does not operate from, nor is bound to, time-based orientation; it acts outside the spinning wheel of time. Resolving our past is definitely like unravelling a big tangled ball of emotional rope. It requires gentleness, patience, and an overall perspective of our predicament that we do not contain while we operate in a time-based paradigm. This is why we are asked to trust the Process, because we may not necessarily be able to understand what our Inner Presence is accomplishing from our limited level of awareness. 6. After completing the entire Process, aside from our 15 minutes breathing twice a day, are there other circumstances that we respond to by breathing ourselves? Yes. When we enter and move through The Presence Process, the breathing empowers us not only to activate present moment awareness, but also to bring suppressed memories to the surface for integration. This is why we are encouraged to keep attending to our breathing exercise twice a day after we complete Session Ten; so we continue to give ourselves an open-ended opportunity to bring further awareness to our unconsciousness, as well as the ability to integrate the shifts we initiate by doing so. The Presence Process initiates a way of being in this world enabling us to respond as opposed to react to our life experience, and the daily breathing empowers us to anchor ourselves into this frequency. Moments do occur when the turbulence of living knocks us around with varying degrees of intensity. Sometimes we experience our inner energies build up to a point of feeling overwhelmed, or deeply unconscious. During these experiences it is beneficial to treat ourselves to a dedicated breathing session; to connect our breathing with intent to gain insight and/or resolution into this particular experience. When we do approach our breathing in this manner, we are not to expect resolution by the end of our dedicated session. Because consciously connected breathing is causal, resolution always unfolds, but not necessarily in the manner we may expect. Let us keep in mind the metaphor of the winding up and the gradual unwinding of a clock mechanism. After breathing about something, we allow our life experience to unfold organically, trusting the resolution or insight we seek to manifest in the most appropriate way and moment. Despite the running commentary of our ego and the endless ramblings of our thinking mind, resolution through breathing is determined by what our Inner Facilitator knows is best for us, instead of what we believe or think is supposed to happen. We are therefore to take care not to use the breathing as a tool of reaction or a means to force resolution. For example, we may wake up one morning feeling depressed. When we feel severely depressed, it is not necessarily beneficial to attend to a dedicated breathing session, because we may approach it as a means of distraction; as a reaction instead of a response to our feelings of depression. The example set by the world in a time-based paradigm teaches us that whenever we enter an unfamiliar energetic experience, and hence one we perceive as uncomfortable, that something is wrong and therefore a change is required. This collective belief is responsible for the reactive behaviors controlling and sedating much of our life experience. More often than not, the best course of action when we feel uncomfortable is to allow ourselves to feel what it feels like; to embrace the opportunity to look as deeply as possible into the energetic experience we are moving through. It is our feeling of it that moves us through it. When we live an examined life by choosing to process our unresolved past, more often than not, these unfamiliar experiences surface because they are energies in our emotional body requiring our compassionate attention. Often these unfamiliar energies seep into our

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awareness because our daily breathing exercise is enabling them to surface. When we then react to them by charging into a connected breathing session in an attempt to change the experience, we are misusing the breathing; then it is becoming a tool of reaction and distraction. When we are already breathing twice a day, more often than not, the best course of action to follow when we feel increased discomfort in our energetic field is to take time out to feel what is surfacing. We are therefore to use our intuition to gauge when to breathe, and when to feel. After having read this, we will now intuitively know when we are using the breathing as a tool of reaction or distraction. Our consciously connected breathing enables us to deepen our emotional body awareness so we are able to feel our life experience. While in this world, everything we seek out of this life experience is sourced in a feeling. Peace, joy, love, and satisfaction; these are all feelings we seek to weave into the emotional tapestry of our life experience. Unless we feel their resonance we are not experiencing them. The process of feeling our surfacing issues as a means to integrate them, simultaneously awakens and builds the emotional muscles that enable us to feel the presence of experiences like peace, joy, love, and satisfaction. We are therefore not to use the breathing practice as a means to escape our feelings, because then we are working against the intent of The Presence Process. Another application of the breathing practice exists. This is called time-jumping. It is a means to breathe our intent more powerfully into our future NOWs. We already wield consciously connected breathing in this way (TPP/Pg 180) as a means to adjust our past NOWs, as our inner child work. Inner child work enables us to enter ourselves and energetically move our awareness to the point of a certain childhood experience to change its resonance. The moment we change its resonance, by updating our interpretation of what we perceived to be unfolding in that moment according to our state of awareness NOW, we change the resonance of our experiences as they are unfolding in the present moment. Because everything is connected, changing the resonance of any childhood interpretation initiates a domino effect which ripples into this moment. IS
IT POSSIBLE, THAT WHEN WE PERCEIVE OURSELVES RECEIVING ASSISTANCE FROM SOME UNKNOWN POPPING IN FROM A FUTURE

PRESENCE,

IT IS OURSELVES

NOW

TO ASSIST WITH FULL INTEGRATION OF THE PRESENT MOMENT?

Just as our breathing sessions enable us to efficiently leap into the resonance of a past NOW, they also enable us to leap into the resonance of a future NOW. For example, when we have an important event scheduled, we bring greater Presence into the occasion by dedicating a consciously connected breathing session to it. We are not to approach this task with such a clear agenda of what we wish to achieve that we end up resorting to controltactics. This only causes frustration. Instead, we say to ourselves, We are now breathing ourselves in preparation for the important meeting (if it is a meeting) taking place in three days from now. If we seek to enhance our dedicated breathing session with a clear intention, let it be with regards to how we seek to feel at the outcome of this event. We are to avoid placing expectations on the specific details of the outcome; to do so is to attempt to rob our Inner Presence of its part of the play. We are encouraged to honour our co-creative relationship with our Inner Presence by letting it surprise us with its unexpected input. Once we are clear on how we choose to feel at the outcome of the scheduled event, and we accomplish this clarity by feeling this way about it NOW, we then breathe for 30 minutes, or as long as we feel comfortable. Once we complete our breathing, our task is to take the required action to ensure we are physically, mentally, and emotionally prepared for the event. Then we let go. When we intend to breathe the resonance of Presence into a forthcoming event, it is also advisable to do so at least three days before the actual occurrence. This allows time and space for the surfacing and conscious integration of any unresolved issues arising as a consequence of our request to bring added Presence to this occasion. These may be issues that sabotaged us in the past whenever similar circumstances occurred. The breathing therefore assists us into being more present by facilitating us into resolving past issues that are distracting or sabotaging us. By applying the breathing practice in this manner, we explore the potentials of our intent, and the extraordinary ability of our breathing to magnify the focus of any intent. This is applying the breathing practice pro-actively and co-creatively. Then we are no longer attending to it as a means to mop up the consequences of the past, but as a tool to polish our

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experience of our future NOWS. By applying the breathing practice in this manner, and by witnessing the inevitable consequences, we know for sure everything happening is connected to what is unfolding right now. We also integrate that our intimate connection with any future NOW is accomplished through the conscious combination of physical presence, mental navigation, and balanced, wielded emotional intent. In this respect, the breathing is not only a means to resolve the past, but also to enhance the path ahead. We also discover that when we operate pro-actively and co-creatively, our future NOWS manifest at an uncanny speed; as though by focussing our breathing on them we are speeding up time. This in turn introduces us to an ever-increasing experiential awareness of what movement is. (TPP/Pg 50) Breathing Presence into our future NOW is an extraordinary place to arrive at. It confirms we are entering a life experience that is evolving beyond the confines of our past issues. Once we are time-jumping we are scratching the surface of what authentic time travel is. We are also on the verge of integrating what an authentic time machine is. Then we are only limited by the extent of our curiosity, the capacity to ask questions, and wield intent. Then the perceptual tools taught throughout The Presence Process transform into instructions from an operating manual for the most profound vehicle created by consciousness. Ready to ride? 7. What about the water sessions? How often do we complete the Process? we attend to these after

This question gives us a perfect opportunity to examine the role of the water sessions in The Presence Process more deeply, and to discuss the possibilities this simple practice is inviting us to explore beyond its intent as a tool to cleanse our emotional body. Activating authentic emotional growth is one of the most challenging accomplishments for any human living in this world. This is because our collective consciousness is only now evolving beyond and experience in which our primary focus was mental body development. Consequently, up until recently no value was perceived in our emotional content and therefore no real encouragement offered for the development of emotional body awareness. Because of the way the world structured itself on the mentally-based priorities of our recent history, from about the age of seven-years-old, few of us develop our emotional body in any authentic and consistent way. Instead, a propensity for the opposite was the case; emotional growth was discouraged, ignored, and in men, often belittled or mocked. Emotional expression was perceived as a weakness and therefore its presence in the classroom and the boardroom perceived as a threat to order and control. Yet, what our world is now discovering is that our emotional development is the key that unlocks the door to a joyful, healthy, abundant, and creative life experience. It is also the key unlocking the door to activating vibrational body awareness. The arrival of THE PRESENCE PROCESS and the enthusiastic reception it is receiving from many is an indication of our readiness to embrace the necessity for entry into conscious emotional growth. Yet the experiential journey it offers is only the beginning; ten weeks of emotional processing cannot undo lifetimes of conditioning. It is therefore also recommended, alongside the twicedaily breathing exercise, that once we complete the Process, we also dedicate ourselves to activating and maintaining our emotional growth through continued water sessions. Of the procedures available on the planet at the moment, the most accessible, noninvasive tool at our disposal for reactivating emotional growth is being in warm water with a clear intent. THE PRESENCE PPOCESS goes into great detail as to why this is. It is therefore unnecessary to re-enter this discussion here (TPP/Pg 213). What we may say is this: When we soak our entire body in warm water for 20 minutes, once or twice week, for three to six months after we complete The Presence Process, with the clear intent to activate emotional growth, we manifest ongoing opportunities to do so, and subsequently, open the doorway to experiencing emotional body awareness. (Later in this text we are given additional emotional body awareness procedures giving us the choice to intensify this procedure and further clarify this intent.) At this point in our discussion it is beneficial to differentiate between activating emotional growth, and the task of increasing emotional body awareness. Activating emotional growth requires we re-enter the emotional body and become aware of our unconscious emotional blockages. We intend this so we are able to clear these blockages, enabling our

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emotions to flow freely again. Until we accomplish this task to a certain degree, until we decrease the heat in our emotional body caused by these internal blockages, it is too uncomfortable for our awareness to enter and remain at this causal point of our experiences for more than a few moments. The water sessions in The Presence Process enable us to resolve this uncomfortable condition by freeing up these energetic blockages, decreasing the friction, and therefore enabling us to cool down. The water sessions, as carried out within The Presence Process, are NOT intended to anchor our awareness in the emotional body; they are for cleansing purposes only. We are using them to pop in and out of our emotional body like a hired cleaner does when they enter and exit someones house or apartment. Also, in conjunction with this emotional body cleansing, The Presence Process assists us to accomplish something important: To transform our current behavior from reactive to responsive. This is crucial, because once we restore balance to our emotional body, we must discontinue entertaining behaviors causing and maintaining emotional blockages. It is pointless cleaning our house, but leaving the windows and doors open so the dust blows back in whenever there is a storm. These two procedures therefore work in tandem; the cleansing of the emotional body and the transformation of our reactive behavior. Once we have engaged in the task of cleansing our emotional body and realigning our behavior to some degree, we commence the next step: Increasing emotional body awareness until we consciously establish the emotional body as the causal point of our awareness in this world. By accomplishing this we activate integrated perception. Integrated perception is also called felt-perception, which we also call functioning from the heart. Initiating emotional body awareness enhances so many aspects of our life experience that an entire series of books can be written just on the implications. We may assume, as our ego is prone to do, that we already experience emotional body awareness, and therefore are already functioning from our heart centre. This assumption arises because we confuse accomplishing emotional body awareness with our ability to express emotion in our life experience. We also mistakenly assume that when we are being nice to others, we are functioning from our heart. Emotional body awareness is not about how much we laugh or cry, or how nice a person we portray ourselves to be in the world; these states are forms of emotional expression, not emotional body awareness. We cannot recognize the presence of emotional body awareness by observing anothers outer behavior, because it is an internal accomplishment, an internal adjustment, and therefore an internalised experience. Because accomplishing emotional body awareness endows us with the means to perceive the nature of anyones energy in motion, only one already accomplished in this state of being is capable of perceiving this accomplishment in another. OUR
CURIOSITY TO EXPLORE OURSELVES IS DRIVEN BY OUR THIRST FOR RE-AWAKENING OUR EMOTIONAL BODY AWARENESS.

Emotional body awareness empowers us to interact in a more authentic way with our experiences of this universe. While we are in this world, our sense of connectedness, of nature, of each other, of God, arises from our ability to experience felt-perception of energies in motion. This is why re-awakening our ability to feel our life experience as it is now is a crucial step in resurrecting ourselves from a time-based paradigm. Joy, abundance, health, love, and creativity are specific frequencies of energy in motion; we only know we encounter them when we experience felt-perception. Emotional body awareness is the re-awakening of full-blown felt-perception. This feltperception delivers us beyond the necessity for words and concepts, as it delivers us beyond the necessity for understanding and into the experience of knowing. Once emotional body awareness is re-awoken, we no longer mentally require technology to assist us to unravel and understand the fabric of our physical, mental, and emotional relationship with this universe. Then the rabbit hole is no longer bottomless. In this way, re-establishing emotional body awareness is not only the doorway into knowing everything there is to know about this universe, but it is also the bridge we are required to cross before we graduate from, and so transcend, the confines of this particular universe. Our task as beings is to awaken ourselves NOW so we can consciously and responsibly navigate this next step in our evolution; to first move consciously into and through the procedure of emotional body cleansing, and then

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consciously into re-establishing full-blown emotional body awareness. How do we accomplish this? This is a general guideline: First we complete THE PRESENCE PROCESS experientially, at least twice. After completing The Presence Process, we then commit to breathing for 15 minutes twice a day for three to six months. During this three to six month period it is recommended we continue submerging our body in warm water once or twice a week for 20 minutes with a clear intent to activate emotional growth. Completing this drastically transforms our life experience beyond our present comprehension. Then, and then only, are we ready to focus on increasing our emotional body awareness. We required a process to cleanse our emotional body to overcome our conditioned resistance to entering it. So too do we require deliberate procedures to facilitate a permanent return of our awareness into our emotional body. These procedures are introduced to us in the latter part of this book. Once we complete reading BEING OUR COMPANION we are endowed with the mental understanding and intuitive pointers to know when we are ready to commence these. Once we have restored a certain level of balance to our emotional body, our awareness automatically seeks to re-establish a more integrated perceptual frequency; that of perceiving our experiences in this world through a balanced trinity of emotional, mental, and physical content. The water sessions are crucial in facilitating this shift. Accordingly, the importance of the water sessions continues after completing the Process. 8. What other activities can we instill into our life experience to enhance our relationship with our Inner Presence? Any activity directing our attention into this moment increases our level of present moment awareness, and anything that anchors us more into the present moment enhances our relationship with our Inner Presence. We cannot determine what type of relationship we experience with our Inner Presence, because all of this is given. Our task is to lay a foundation for this relationship to be possible, and for it to bloom, not to attempt determining its parameters in any way. We accomplish this best by becoming as present in our life experience as possible. PRESENCE
IS THE PORTHOLE THROUGH WHICH WE INTERACT WITH OUR INNER

PRESENCE,

JUST AS OUR INNER

COMMUNICATIVE CONDUIT THROUGH WHICH WE ESTABLISH AN AUTHENTIC TWO-WAY RELATIONSHIP WITH WHATEVER

PRESENCE IS THE GOD IS FOR US.

All our senses are portholes for activating present moment awareness, as they are equally able to lead us into the distractions of operating in a time-based paradigm. When we pay attention to our sensual input, we pay attention to the present moment, because all sensual input occurs in the present moment. The second we interpret, analyse, reflect upon, project, and compare our sensual input we depart the present moment and enter the mental paradigm called time. LOOKING
AT ANYTHING WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT IT ACTIVATES PRESENT MOMENT AWARENESS.

When we listen intently to any sound without thinking about it, we activate present moment awareness. When we place our attention on any texture without thinking about it, we activate present moment awareness. When we place our attention on aroma without thinking about it, we activate present moment awareness. When we taste without thinking about it, we activate present moment awareness. The moral of the story is therefore to stop thinking about it! For example, we may hear a cheerful song on the radio, and it reminds us of our last intimate relationship, and so we think about that. If this relationship ended poorly, and left us grieving, the song causes us to re-enter grief. We are unable to hear the cheerful song at all, even though that is what our ears register; we hear our illusory interpretation of the incoming signal, which in this case manifests a past echo of our unresolved grief. Generally, any activity stripped bare of thinking activates present moment awareness. This means every moment of our waking life is an invitation to enter Presence, and hence an opportunity to deepen our relationship with our Inner Presence. Activities do exist that contain a definite propensity to activate doses of present moment awareness, like rock climbing,

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tightrope walking, live performance, skydiving, riding a roller coaster, and bungee jumping. However, whenever these activities become routine to the point we are able to ponder and reflect while experiencing them, they no longer serve this purpose. Walking around our neighbourhood with intent to seek out stillness, silence, and beautify activates present moment awareness, yet walking around the neighbourhood worrying about our finances does not. Paying attention to our food as we prepare and eat it activates present moment awareness, yet engaging in the exact same activity while moaning internally about those we are cooking for does not. The Zen approach to life, which is the art of transforming all our experiences into a meditation upon the present moment, is worth exploring. It contains much wisdom about instilling the radiance of Presence into the ordinary events of our life experience. Zen teaches us that when we make the ordinary extraordinary, by being present with all our activities, we transform our entire life experience into an extraordinary one. Then the door is wide open for our Inner Presence to enter our awareness. 9. Why is it that since completing The Presence Process we are more aware of the suffering in the world, and yet feel less compelled to do something about it? When we live in a time-based paradigm, we are as aware of the suffering of the world, but this awareness is of a different frequency; it is driven by the reflections we witness of our own unresolved dramas, and therefore is inauthentic. When we select any individual waving a Save the Planet! banner at any peace march in the world, there is a high probability this individual is not in harmony with their parents, let alone themselves. It is hypocritical for us to attempt to save another, let alone a whole planet, when we are perceptually trapped in hellish circumstances. When we live in a time-based paradigm, the nature of our relationship with suffering is an unconscious one; we do not realize our view of the outer world is filtered through an echo of our unresolved past and fearful forthcoming attractions of our projected future. This is why we fall for the scenario of attempting to save others. WHILE
WE ARE IMPRISONED BY OUR OWN TIME-BASED PERCEPTIONS, WE ATTEMPT TO LIBERATE OTHERS.

WHILE

WE ARE STARVING FOR OUR OWN ATTENTION, WE ATTEMPT TO FEED THE MASSES.

This is why we become annoying to others when we enter the state of being that is very helpful, because in this state we are blinded to the predicament of our own reflections and projections; that we are the ones needing the most help. Our time-based perception and the hypocritical behavior it spawns begins to shift as we move through The Presence Process because we learn how to perceive the world beyond the reflections and projections of our own drama. As we see through our own drama, we see through the drama of the outer world. When we realize that nothing about our own drama is real, that it is a repeating echo of an unresolved past experience, we no longer seek to validate it by fighting for or against the reflections of it we perceive in the outer world. As we awaken into present moment awareness, it becomes obvious there is only one point of real suffering in this world, and that all outer drama is a manifestation of this. This point of suffering is the cloud of forgetfulness that overshadows humanity throughout time. ALL
SUFFERING ARISES FROM OUR AMNESIA ABOUT THE LAW OF LOVE; THE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT CREATING US EQUAL.

THIS

LAW ENSURES WE ALL, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, STAND IN THE CENTRE OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR ACCUMULATED THOUGHTS, WORDS, AND DEEDS.

KNOWING

THIS IS WHAT LIBERATES US FROM ANY PREDICAMENT WE MIGHT SEEK TO NAVIGATE OUT OF.

FORGETTING

THIS INCARCERATES US IN A VICTIM AND VICTOR-BASED PERCEPTUAL PRISON OF OUR OWN MAKING.

When we reawaken to the certainty of cause and effect, we realize it is pointless to run around attempting to rescue others from their experiences. This behavior is the same as attempting to rescue others from themselves, or from love, or from God. Why rescue others from God? When we integrate that the only authentic suffering is the forgetfulness of personal responsibility, our first step is to take full responsibility for our own experience. Rescuing ourselves from our own forgetfulness is the birth of authenticity. It is also the most

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compassionate act we may initiate, because an automatic radiance is inherent in this awakening; first we radiate peace into our own life experience, this then radiates in our relationship with our family, our community, city, country, continent, and our entire planet. It is pointless attempting to save the planet first when we are still fighting with our mother. UNTIL
WE PERCEIVE OUR MOTHER AND THE PLANET AS ONE AND THE SAME, WE ARE NOT ABLE TO ESTABLISH AUTHENTIC PEACE IN THE QUALITY OF OUR OWN EXPERIENCE.

Until we do unto ourselves as we would have others do our intention to be a planetary peacemaker is ineffectual, reactionary, futile, inauthentic, and a 100% waste of the opportunity that birth into this world has given us. Our good intentions are then meaningless dramas. As we enter present moment awareness we become more aware of the suffering in the world, not the drama, but the suffering enveloping those of us who forget we are individually responsible for manifesting our circumstances. Simultaneously, we become less likely to attempt saving the world, because we know we cannot. No one has, and no one will, because the world does not require saving. Saving this world from anything is like attempting to rescue a mirror from our reflection in it. Saving anything or anyone is a time-based perception. When God is all that exists what is there to be saved from? When we enter present moment awareness there is no lack, and there is no enemy, and so nothing appears as though it needs to be saved, let alone ourselves. Nothing is wrong; we are now transitioning through a process of awakening ourselves from what appears to be a long nap. The ominously dramatic Dark Night of The Soul is nothing more than The Siesta of The Soul. Like the blooming of a flower, all is unfolding as it should, organically, naturally, at a pace most beneficial to the currents of our collective evolution. As we extract our awareness from the time-based paradigm we walk bright-eyed through this world as examples that this awakening is not only possible, but inevitable. The greatest service we can therefore perform for humanity is to awaken ourselves. From this single act flow fountains of eternal liberation; when we become as responsible for our creations as is our Father and Mother, all are blessed by the radiance of our shining Presence. 10. Is our ability to know about events before they occur a consequence of being connected to our Inner Presence? Yes. Let us use this question about psychic-type experiences to gain a deeper understanding of the consequences of activating emotional body awareness. When we awaken to emotional body awareness, and the consequences of activating it, we understand the mechanics of knowing what is happening ahead of time. Nothing is mysterious about this ability, we are born with it; it is an attribute of our shared Inner Presence. Our pets and plants access and wield this ability. However, it is unavailable when we are unbalanced by a preoccupation with illusory mental states of being; it is available only in the present moment. By entering The Presence Process, we activate emotional body awareness. This is not the primary intent of the procedure; its intent is to cleanse the emotional body so that the overall quality of our life experience moves towards balance. Because of the intensity of our relationship with, and addiction to time-based activity, and the discomfort arising in this distracted state of being, we do not initially concern ourselves with emotional body awareness in The Presence Process. To do so is to put the cart before the horse; we first ensure our emotional body is a comfortable place to occupy before we move in permanently. Emotional body awareness is activated and significantly increased as a by-product of emotional body cleansing, and so we experience real, but usually fleeting, encounters of this profound state of being. When that happens, we comprehend why emotional body awareness is one of the most important evolutionary steps for us to accomplish right now. Quantum Physics already hints at the possibilities of interacting with the world through energetically attuned perception. It reveals that everything in our life experience, whether we perceive it physically, mentally, or emotionally, is flowing energy, energy in motion. Whether we perceive it or not, everything is connected with everything else through this continuous flow. In this

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world, we at present experience the perceptual option of interacting with this energetic flow from three points of view: Physically, mentally, and/or emotionally. When interacting with our universe only physically we acknowledge the surface of life and enter separation-consciousness.

When interacting with our universe only mentally we conceptualise everything and become head-cases, devoid of conscience and immune to consequence. When interacting with our universe only emotionally our entire experience is a dramatic expression of our suppressed fear, anger, and grief.

When we learn to use the physical body as a vehicle to ground our awareness, and the mental body as a means to realign the flow of our awareness so that it is initiated from the emotional body, a whole new paradigm opens up to us; we enter an integrated physical, mental, and emotional experience that turns our physically flat or mentally formulated timebased experience of the universe into a multi-dimensional, living, breathing, astonishingly intelligent, energetic holograph. We no longer seek God in something; we perceive God as everything. In Mexico we regularly come across beautiful murals, postcards, and t-shirts showing an image of Christ pointing to His chest. In the centre of His chest we see a flaming heart. By manifesting these illustrations on the planet, our Inner Presence invites us to hear a clear message: ENTER
THE BODY FULLY BY MOVING THROUGH THE DOORWAY OF THE MIND AND INTO THE HEART. THAN WE THINK THERE IS.

THERE

IS MORE TO THE WORLD

Instances exist on our present timeline when humans functioned primarily from emotional body awareness, when past civilizations feasted on a full-blown banquet of integrated physical, mental, and emotional awareness. What our history books tell us of these great civilizations is unfortunately only a documentation of their fall from Grace. Also, because we comprehend everything according to the predicament of our own perceptions, our present interaction with these historical snapshots and the symbolic clues they left us is primarily physically and/or mentally orientated. This deprives us of the following revelation: WHAT COLOURS A CIVILIZATION AT ITS PEAK IS ITS USE OF THE PHYSICAL EXPERIENCE TO GROUND ITSELF, THE MENTAL TO NAVIGATE ITS INTENT, AND THE EMOTIONAL TO ENSURE THAT ITS AWARENESS IS FULLY AWAKENED, MANIFEST, AND CREATIVELY EXPRESSED IN THE WORLD OF PHENOMENON. While we continue to dismiss and undermine the emotional component to our experiences, we cannot comprehend the awesome possibilities that awaken when humanity embraces and explores its unlimited potential within unified field consciousness. Many children function from emotional body awareness for a brief moment as they wander spontaneously through the temporary innocence of childhood. This is why myth tells us only children perceive Fairies. Fairies are the astral identity of the nurturing energies of the natural world; they are the personalities of the energetic flow running through nature, maintaining balance and harmony throughout the plant kingdom. Yet, the luminous personalities of this energetic flow cannot be perceived, let alone mentally digested, unless we function from emotional body awareness. Fairies become as visible as butterflies, birds, and insects when we anchor our awareness into this integrated paradigm, and in the same breath, butterflies, birds, and insects seen through integrated perception become fairy-like. EVERYTHING
IS ALREADY RIGHT HERE, BEFORE OUR EYES. IT IS WE THAT CANNOT YET PERCEIVE WHAT WE ARE LOOKING AT.

Moments have occurred on our present timeline when humans attained integrated perception and consequently achieved an intimate relationship with these nature energies; this is how we knew, in the days before microscopes and chemical analysis, that some plants were medicinal and what their particular applications were. It is from this point of awareness that our People knew what herbs to gather and how to combine them to formulate medicines. In a time-based paradigm we examine plants physically under a microscope, after they are dead, and mentally with fancy Latin names that we compare and file. This approach cannot

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reveal their energetic nature. Microscopes and Latin filing systems are devoid of feltperception. By approaching the plant kingdom in this unbalanced manner we examine the living yet remain blind to Life. Despite what we think the implications or potentials of technological progress are, despite the astounding insights gained by scientific study, it cannot assist us to re-enter this energetic realm of nature; we can re-enter it only within ourselves. When we continue to rely on externalised technology as a tool of perception, instead of our own innate natural abilities to interact with and know the universe through feltperception, we move further away from a state of authenticity. It is also within this integrated paradigm of emotional body awareness that energetic beings called angels and demons reside, not to mention this being the temporary abode of millions of souls who pass on from this world and are preparing for the opportunity to gain access to another physical vehicle. The consequences of reopening this level of awareness are therefore massive. When we step through this energetic doorway and perceive this timebased world from integrated emotional body awareness, we re-enter the garden; our lost Camelot. Our lack of faith in ourselves, and our continual Self-disempowerment through our growing belief that technology gives us our daily bread and delivers us from evil, is directly related to our lack of access to emotional body awareness. Despite being unable to recall this state, other than in dreaming, we thirst for it like a wanderer in a desert. Our thirst for it is our nagging awareness of there being a higher purpose for our presence in this world; something more than the grind of making a living day to day. Without emotional body awareness we are like fish flapping around on the ground out of water; somehow surviving, yet suffocating. Fortunately, because of our inner work from recent incarnations, many of us are now being born into this world with a capacity for emotional body awareness intact. It just requires activation through our intent. The consequences of activating emotional body awareness are somewhat startling to the mind, and understandably may be greeted as fanciful by those of us still dependent on and addicted to operating on a predominantly mental frequency. Let us however attempt to stretch ourselves beyond the confines of our mental assumptions, and beyond needing to use the physical surface of our experience as a conduit for proof. Let us contemplate some of the possibilities of reopening this doorway into felt-perception. Let us ask some expansive questions: What mythical creatures now dismissed as the figment of our human imagination await us beyond this energetic veil? How many ancient friends are calling the human family from beyond this veil to reawaken from the sleep of time so we may once again rejoin the unified circle of Life on planet earth and in the rest of our universe? Are the species of life we assume to be extinct roaming in herds beyond the veil of our imprisoned perception? Are we able to open our heart to the possibility Life is bigger and far more mysterious than the nightmarish dream we manufacture as a consequence of our perceptuallydistorted time-based experiences?

These questions are worth asking because the answers are worth experiencing. Or, is it easier to keep hoping we shall discover the Life we thirst for by peering deeper into the subatomic layers of our planet with increasingly powerful microscopes, or by blasting ourselves further and further into outer space with rockets? As we believe, so we perceive. This is the same as saying, Seek and we will find. When we believe only what the physical world shows us, when we use only the physical world as a barometer for what is real to us, we automatically live as though we are separated from each other, because all the physical bodies of this world give the appearance of separation. The same applies when we predominantly function through the mental tool of understanding; we may contain certain information others appear not to have, and so focussing too much on the mental realm allows us to entertain the illusion of separation. Yet, interacting with our world on an energetic level changes this predicament. On an emotional level we flow in and out of one another and through everything in our experience. Through emotional body

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awareness we realize our inherent unity, that we cannot be alone. This heals separationconsciousness and therefore the cause of all fear. By initiating emotional body awareness, we therefore initiate oneness perception experientially. The present moment is the connection between all causes and their effects. By entering it, we feel the pregnant consequences of our past actions and our future possibilities. Once we translate these feelings into knowings, we awaken our latent psychic capacities; knowing what is unfolding because of what already transpired. Let us take care not to cling excitedly to any of these experiences; they are our birthright and are expected to manifest as we evolve, like spring after winter. Let us not identify with them by calling ourselves a psychic or clairvoyant. These abilities are a passing road-show on the way to an infinite theatre containing of all these rides, and much, much more. We are to enjoy these gifts, embrace them with responsibility, but not become overly hung up about them so as to place them, as self-limiting tools, in the mischievous grasp of the ego and the thinking mind. They are toys for growing children. Our destiny is to eventually put away these little toys as we become like our Father and Mother.

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PART VI: EXPLORING EMOTIONAL BODY AWARENESS

1. What is recommended for those of us who have completed The Presence Process more than once and now feel ready to explore emotional body awareness? Three procedures assist us to explore emotional body awareness. To ascertain whether we have completed the required inner work to now focus on navigating ourselves into this state of being, there are a series of questions we may ask ourselves. These questions enable us to establish the extent of our inner balance: Do we still manifest and entertain large amounts of outer drama? Do fear, anger, and grief still pollute our outer life experience? Do we still struggle to come to terms with our present flow of abundance? Are we aligned with our purpose, or are we still asking what this might be? Are we at peace with our immediate family? Are we still trying to fix other people? When challenging circumstances arise do we still resort to addictive behaviors or substances that cause us to lose our sense of Presence? Do we still seek acknowledgement from others to validate our experiences? Do we still blame others or outer circumstances for the quality of our life experience? Are we still motivated by the intent to change our circumstances, or are we now channeling our intent into accomplishing impeccable personal responsibility regardless of our unfolding experiences? And most importantly, how much are we laughing?

The answers to these questions tell us much about our inner state of being. It is unnecessary to feel we have accomplished perfect inner balance and outer harmony to continue our journey into emotional body awareness, but it is essential to enter a state of being in which we accept responsibility for the quality of our life experiences, and in which we accept that our life experience in any given moment is exactly how it is supposed to be. This is important because we do not want to enter the emotional body awareness procedures while still entertaining victim and victor mentalities, or while we are still attempting to sedate and control our experiences. The emotional body awareness procedures are for those of us intent on entering vehicle mentality. Vehicle mentality is discussed in detail in Session 10 (TPP/Pg 253); it is when we allow our Life to flow through us and when we allow ourselves to flow with the circumstances of our life experience. A vehicle no longer fights the currents, direction, and speed of the river, but instead relishes in each moment its flow. NO
MATTER HOW A RIVER BEHAVES ALONG ITS COURSE, WHEN WE SURRENDER TO ITS INTENT, THE OCEAN BECOMES PART OF OUR EXPERIENCE.

The emotional body awareness procedures are not about changing the quality of our life experiences; they are to assist and guide us on our quest to achieve impeccable responsibility through containment and discernment. They activate causal or authentic

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perception, and enable us to perceive the world as a unified energy system, as an integrated physical, mental, and emotional experience. If we still feel driven to change our circumstances it is more beneficial to continue exploring The Presence Process before commencing these procedures. WE ACCOMPLISH EMOTIONAL BODY AWARENESS SO THAT WE EXPERIENTIALLY KNOW THE CONSEQUENCE OF OUR PRESENCE WITHIN THIS WORLD, AND ARE INSPIRED THROUGH THIS AWARENESS TO ATTAIN IMPECCABLE RESPONSIBILITY. IF WE ARE STILL CAUGHT UP IN MANIFESTING OUTER DRAMA AND SCENARIOS IN WHICH WE SABOTAGE OURSELVES, THEN PERCEIVING OUR INTIMATE INTERCONNECTEDNESS WITH EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING CAUSES US GREAT FEAR INSTEAD OF ABSOLUTE JOY. Like the practices shared with us in The Presence Process, the simple and sensible procedures we are now introduced to honor The Pathway of Awareness and our overall intent to move consciously back along it into our vibrational paradigm. They deliberately move our attention from the physical, to the mental, and into the emotional. What is markedly different about these procedures is they are flexible; we are now responsible for determining the level of their intensity. In this way they not only enable us to flex our muscles of personal responsibility, of conscious self-facilitation, but also of discernment and containment. If we so desire, we may also place them into a dedicated process. Whether we explore these procedures individually or together in a structured process is therefore also a decision now placed in our hands. (A recommended process is given at the end of this discussion.) The three procedures for activating emotional body awareness are:

SPINNING; a physical procedure that activates our emotional body centers. It calls upon us to take on the responsibility for learning how to modulate our own energy flow. THE EMOTIONAL BODY RADIANCE STATEMENT; a mental repetition initiating a deliberate inward flow of our energy. PRACTICING HEART AWARENESS; once again we enter the water, but this time the focus is on activating presence in our emotional body instead of cleansing it.

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SPINNING
Now that we are no longer intent on using our energy for reactive drama, now that we are aware of beneficial behavioral traits like discernment and containment, we are ready to explore a means to actively increase our overall energy flow. This is primarily what Spinning accomplishes for us. Not only does this increased energy flow enhance the overall quality of our life experience and all our creative pursuits, but it also gives us an opportunity to learn how to channel this energy inward for the benefit of inner work. The beauty of Spinning is that, because it activates a focused surge of energy, it empowers us to accomplish a precise modulation of our own personal energy flow. By attending to this practice consistently, by gauging how much extra energy its adjustable application generates, we are able to take responsibility for the precise modulation of our own daily energy flow, as opposed to it happening to us. To enjoy a balanced life experience requires overcoming a state of excessive or insufficient energy. No rules exist as to the right amount of energy in any given moment; only how much is appropriate right now. The beauty of the Spinning procedure is it empowers us to experiment, and through discovery, to decide an appropriate energy level for ourselves, as well as initiate immediate adjustments when required. Spinning gives us immediate feedback. If, at a certain velocity of the practice, we discover we cannot sleep at night, or we cannot sit still long enough to accomplish tasks, we know we are generating too much energy. We then decrease the velocity of our practice. Our overall energy levels are a direct reflection of the condition of our emotional body. As we learn to balance our energy levels, we instill balance into our emotional body. This does not mean because we are blessed with high energy levels, that our emotional body is necessarily healthy. Fear also manifests as high energy, as excitement, and as unending bubbling enthusiasm for every moment we are awake. This is not the type of balanced energetic experience we are referring to in the context of present moment awareness. For example, when we experience endless amounts of energy, the question we ask ourselves is this: Can we stop and be still at will, for as long as required, when our life experience places moments of non-activity in our path? If we cannot, our energy is not sourced from a mature relationship with our emotional body. It is most likely sourced from suppressed anxiety, through reactivity. In the same light, anger, grief, and revenge drive some of us to perform at astonishing capacities. This behavior is often validated as admirable in the eyes of the world. The worlds validation does not make this type of relationship with our energy levels a healthy one. Unless we modulate our own energy levels, we are not entering the experience of emotional body awareness; we are still reacting to the condition of our emotional body. How and why does Spinning activate an increased energy flow? The answer to this is in the chakra system running along a central energetic channel within our body. In some eastern disciplines this central energy channel is called the Sushumna. Most of us are by now aware through books and workshops that we contain seven main chakras, or energy vortices, or emotional body centers, in the human body. Because we cannot yet perceive our own energy centers, most of us do not know this, yet believe it to be true. When, through activating emotional body awareness, we perceive our energy centers, we will realize the assumption that we contain only seven main energy centers running up the Sushumna is incorrect. It is outdated. We contain nine primary energy centers along the Sushumna, and as we awaken to the additional two being overlooked, we perceive how obvious and necessary their presence is to accomplish a sense of energetic completion. The two left out are the Ear and Nose Chakras, which we may also call the Alto Major (ear) and the Nasal Chakra. The Alto Major is located at the back of the head, at the base of the skull and the top of the neck, in a location also called the occiput. The Nasal Chakra is located at the point where the bridge of the nose meets the forehead.

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It is astounding that these two energetic centers are overlooked when they are so obvious. Why do we accept that we contain a Throat and an Eye Chakra, but that our ears and nose are not required to participate in our energetic functioning? This oversight is a testament to our lack of awareness while living in a time-based paradigm. What other obvious attributes about ourselves are we blinded to right now? When we integrate the role these two energy centers play in our emotional make-up, in our energetic relationship with our outer world experiences, a light bulb may flash brightly for us; our Eye Center may function more efficiently. THE ALTO MAJOR (EAR) CHAKRA
IS FEMALE AND IS THE ENERGETIC CENTER OF CONTAINMENT, AND THE AND IS THE ENERGETIC CENTER OF DISCERNMENT.

NASAL CHAKRA

IS MALE

When we are not aware of our Alto Major Chakra, we believe anything we hear to be true and are willing to pass this information along to others. When we are unaware of our Nasal Chakra, we do not nose the difference between what serves us and what does not. All our emotional states contain a smell to them; when our Nasal Chakra is not functioning, we cannot smell the lie when someone is attempting to sell us a useless secondhand car. Animals rely on their Nasal Chakra to navigate through situations in which sight and sound are of no use. We are also permitted to experience this. Our Alto Major and Nasal Chakra work in partnership to enable us to perceive what is transpiring, as opposed to what is being portrayed. While our entire energetic system is not flowing intact, our Eye Center remains shut, and if operating, unreliable. The well-being of our Crown Chakra, being our sense of self, if apparent at all, is then bound to be delusional. Nine is the number of completion. When we are aware of our nine energy centers we move beyond the potentially ungrounded experience accompanying the assumption that we are complete with seven Chakras. While we remain ungrounded, we are gullible to uninvited presences floating into our energy field like driftwood washed up on a beach. We tend to believe in them and whatever they communicate to us just because they are in our presence. We are also inclined to believe that their behavior, as it becomes channeled through our life experience, is our behavior. This may give rise to powerful feelings of guilt, shame, and confusion. JUST
AS BODY AWARENESS ASSISTS US KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OUR BEHAVIOR AND BEHAVIORS ALIEN TO OUR INTENT.

THE PRESENCE PROCESS

ASSISTS US KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN US AND OUR EXPERIENCES, AWAKENING EMOTIONAL

Once our Alto Major and Nasal Chakras are functioning we trust our own guidance. The astral presences, the input of the ego and the thinking mind, and the many inauthentic gurutype messengers who wander our human plane eager to teach us lessons about personal responsibility no longer mislead us. How do we activate these two emotional body centers? By knowing they exist. By acknowledging their indispensable place in our energy systems. By spinning.

An improvement in their functioning is already activated just from reading the last few paragraphs; this is the power of awareness. In addition to the dawning of our awareness about them, we may now practice Spinning. The rest unfolds naturally, organically, and at a pace most beneficial to our individual process. How do we know when these two energy centers are functional? When we are able to smell and hear everything we see. It may be challenging to accept the possibility that at some level of awareness we are able to smell and hear everything we see, but this is because of our fragmented state of perception; one in which we perceive seeing, hearing, and smelling as being separate activities. They are not; they are different perceptual monitors of one energetic experience. Once emotional body awareness is activated, once we enter a state of integrated perception, whatever we see, we also hear and smell, no matter the distance of what we are viewing.

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Naturally, we do not wish to smell and hear everything we see; this causes us to be overloaded with unnecessary information. This is why the ability to wield discernment and containment also awakens at this juncture; all this sensual information is available and forms part of the perceptual experience of knowing or seeing deeply that arises from initiating emotional body awareness, but we also have a choice in each moment whether or not we open ourselves to the details. THE PRESENCE PROCESS and BEING OUR COMPANION deliberately prepare us for the awakening of our Alto Major and Nasal Chakra by leading us into a state of being in which we comprehend and therefore embrace containment and discernment as beneficial and necessary behavioral traits. As we prepare to practice the following simple procedure, let us do so with the satisfaction that we are energetically complete systems, and as such, we are prepared for an increase in energetic velocity, awareness, and the responsibility arising from this.

HOW WE SPIN:
1. We stand with our feet shoulder-width apart in an area with ample space to move.

2. We internally declare our clear intention to use this procedure as a means to detoxify
parasitic presences and activate emotional body awareness by tending to the wellbeing of our nine primary emotional body centers. 3. We raise our arms straight out at our sides until they extend from our shoulders and are parallel with the ground. They are relaxed and slightly bent at the elbows. 4. Our left palm faces upward and our right palm faces downward. 5. We turn our head to focus our full optical attention into the center of our left palm. 6. We commence spinning clockwise; from our left to our right. We always spin clockwise, no matter what hemisphere of the planet we reside in. 7. As we spin, we keep our optical attention unwaveringly fixed in the palm of our left hand; this assists us to maintain balance and equilibrium. When our attention strays from our palm, we lose balance. By bringing our attention back into our left palm our balance is restored. 8. As we spin we breathe deeply in and out through our nose. A complete inhale and exhale makes up one breath. 9. We spin for the duration of 11, 22, or 33 deep in and out breaths. The significance of these particular numbers is not important. The duration of our spinning is therefore not determined by our number of rotations, but how many complete and connected breaths we take. 10. As we stop spinning, we again come to a standing position in which our feet are shoulder-width apart and our knees slightly bent. The way we a stop determines the impulse-frequency of the energetic charge activated in our emotional centers. Initially, it is therefore advised we stop spinning gently. As we become skilled at, and comfortable with this procedure, we discover the more abruptly we stop our body spinning, the more of an energetic kick we activate throughout our field. If we have spun a spinning top by using a piece of string to whip it into motion, we know it is the final quick-flick of the wrist that causes the top to spin magnificently. The abruptness in which we come to a standstill after completing our Spinning practice duplicates the same impact in kick-starting our energy centers. 11. Once stationary, we ensure our back, neck, and head are aligned so we are looking forward.

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12. We place our hands in a prayer position with our thumbs against the center of our
chest. This hand position energetically combines the left and right-hand side of our body, our female and male side, and aligns this energy, through our thumbs, with our heart center. 13. We keep our breathing connected, but gently so. 14. We keep our eyes open and observe, without attempting to focus, whatever occurs ahead of us. The room continues to spin after we stop. We observe the movement until it ceases completely, without attempting to follow it with our attention. We allow ourselves to see what unfolds without attempting to look at any specific aspect of it. 15. Once the movement before us stops completely, we close our eyes and place our full attention on our individual Chakras. We begin with our Root, Abdomen, Solar Plexus, Heart, Throat, Alto Major, Nasal, Eye, and finally the Crown. We place our awareness on each of these emotional body centers for a second or two without attempting to do anything. (If we are not aware of where these specific centers are located within our body, it is recommended to read or buy a simple book on the subject, or to ask someone who may know. It is unnecessary to study our energetic system in detail to activate it.)

16. We stand for a moment and feel our entire Sushumna; we feel the central energy
column running up the center of our body and the nine energy centers situated upon it as one cohesive unit. This may take practice; we are not to try to visualize this, but instead allow ourselves to feel it. 17. As we stand within our activated energetic field, we align our energetic flow with a clear intent by internally repeating our Emotional Body Radiance Statement once, slowly and clearly. (This is taught to us after this discussion on Spinning.) 18. We smile and acknowledge ourselves for being responsible enough to manage our own energy levels. (It is recommended to go to a mirror and express our gratitude to our C.A.S.T. for their support and participation.) When we initially commence this practice, we immediately feel the power of it, and may feel dizzy or nauseous. These sensations pass after a few moments. To integrate the source of the nausea, in particular, we are asked to keep our mind open. We have already discussed the possibility that our energetic systems, while we are in a time-based paradigm, serve as hosts to astral presences seeking to experience this world through us. One of the beneficial effects of Spinning is this procedure rattles these presences to their core. Unlike us, they do not contain a physical vehicle with which to anchor themselves into this experience; they are hijacking ours for this purpose. Because this is not their physical vehicle, they do not have the energetic circuitry to ground themselves into this experience under certain conditions; Spinning is one of these conditions. When we commence our Spinning procedure, and then bring our bodies to an immediate standstill, we fling them around and cause them great discomfort and disorientation; there is nothing for them to hold onto and this is perceived by us as excessive nausea. The immense nausea we feel as we initially commence this procedure is a powerful indication of foreign presences in our field. Remember that many of them have been with us since childhood and so we are unable to differentiate their presence and hence behavior from ours. Spinning immediately assists us to accomplish this. This practice is a barometer for gauging their departure; the moment they leave us, the Spinning does not cause nausea anymore. Also, because these alien presences are parasitic, their resonance is of a low frequency. When we spin, the surge within our energy system automatically weeds them out of hiding. These presences often react to this procedure by temporarily leaping out of our energy field, and returning when things calm down a bit. This is why consistency is essential once we commence wielding these procedures. Spinning turns a comfortable energetic environment for parasites into an intolerable roller coaster ride they cannot integrate. The consequence is they leave. We are informed about this because if, after attending to our Spinning for a few days, we experience a deep

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resistance to the practice, or discover we conveniently forget to attend to the procedure, it is likely we are manipulated by the alien presences whose free and cozy accommodation is now threatened by our whirling behavior. Spinning may generate waves of heat throughout our body, or a sensation of fluctuating body temperature. This is normal; this is energy in motion in ways we are not yet used to. It may also be the releasing of blockages within our energy centers. We may also feel a distinct awareness of our body extending beyond the confines of our skin. This is a growing awareness of our personal energy field. Within a week or two of spinning every morning, these sensations evolve and are no longer uncomfortable. We also notice during the course of our daily activities that our energy levels are noticeably adjusted through this practice. If we require more energy, we spin again in the middle of the day. It is recommended to begin Spinning at an 11-breath frequency per session to ascertain the effect of this on our overall energy level before increasing our velocity to a 22 or 33-breath frequency. We are encouraged to spin at an 11-breath frequency for a week or two and observe the consequences before making adjustments. Aside from being unable to sleep or concentrate, another indicator we may be overdoing it is a feeling of being ungrounded or unfocussed. If this happens, we can attend to a 15-minute connected breathing session. This assists us integrate the excess energy. Then we can modulate our overall energy level by decreasing the velocity of our spin-frequency. Spinning is a powerful energetic practice. It brings awareness to nine emotional body centers, assists us remove parasitic presences from our energy field, provides us with the opportunity to discern how much energy we require, and teaches us to responsibly contain the energy we do generate.

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THE EMOTIONAL BODY RADIANCE STATEMENT

Our Emotional Body Radiance Statement serves the same purpose as our Presence Activation Statements from The Presence Process; conscious mental repetition activates the experience of mental presence. The difference here is this mental repetition opens us up to an awareness of the flow of the energetic relationship we experience with everything in the world. Another difference is we receive only one Emotional Body Radiance Statement. As its name implies, this mental repetition encourages our energy to radiate inward, facilitating the conscious movement of our awareness from the physical, through the mental, and into the emotional body. Our Emotional Body Radiance Statement reads as follows: WE LOVE LIVING WE LOVE EVERY MOMENT WE LOVE EVERYTHING WE LOVE EVERYBODY WE LOVE EVERYONE WE LOVE OUR COMMUNITY WE LOVE OUR FAMILY WE LOVE OURSELVES WE LOVE LIFE WE LOVE LOVE Let us unravel this Emotional Body Radiance Statement so that we can mentally load it with intent so our repetition practice activates greater momentum for us: WE: Repeating this statement from the perspective of WE includes our entire C.A.S.T. in the practice, thereby making ourselves vulnerable to oneness mentality. WE LOVE LIVING: By LIVING we refer to all the physical, mental, and emotional experiences of this world. WE LOVE EVERY MOMENT: By MOMENT we invite the resonance of present moment awareness into all our time-based experiences, appreciating each one as being equally valuable. WE LOVE EVERYTHING: By EVERYTHING we acknowledge our appreciation for every inanimate object in our life experience, from our work tools, to the mountains, to the clothes we wear. WE LOVE EVERYBODY: By EVERYBODY we acknowledge our appreciation for every life form on the planet, from human beings, to insects, to elephants, to plants, to starfish. WE LOVE EVERYONE: By EVERYONE we acknowledge our appreciation for every life form on the planet that is a personality to us, including all the human beings and the pets coloring our life experiences. This includes anyone we have not met yet, that we may only know through T.V., etc. WE LOVE OUR COMMUNITY: By COMMUNITY we refer to the human beings in our daily life experience we encounter, that are not our immediate family, from the cashier, to the post office clerk, to the car mechanic, to our work colleagues.

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WE LOVE OUR FAMILY: By FAMILY we refer to the members of our birth family, whether we have met them or not. WE LOVE OURSELVES: By OURSELVES we refer to the entire C.A.S.T. (Compassionate Attention Support Team) making up the attributes of the expression of our presence in the world, from our Inner Presence, to our child self, to our egoic identity, to our emotional body, etc. WE LOVE LIFE: By LIFE we refer to our authentic identity; the still, silent, and invisible inner current flowing through us, expressing itself outwardly as this world and our experience of it. We may also call this God. WE LOVE: By WE LOVE we refer to the state of unconditional giving enabling all within our radiance to evolve to their fullest potential. Accordingly, love and evolve become the same word. This is why the word evolve contains the word love. Therefore, when we say WE LOVE, we are saying, WE EVOLVE. LOVE: Evolve. The only commandment.

A great teacher once said, To be attached to nothing, we love everything. Practicing this 11-step Emotional Body Radiance Statement starts us on the journey to realizing what this means. For the purpose of activating emotional body awareness, the Emotional Body Radiance Statement is to be repeated in the precise 11-step order in which it appears, so it moves our attention from our outer experience of living into our inner experience of Life. This graduating statement is made more powerful because, through reading the text of BEING OUR COMPANION, we are already making a conscious distinction between Life and living. It therefore not only serves our purpose in activating emotional body awareness, but also in any inner work we may pursue. This Emotional Body Radiance Statement may also serve us as a radiant prayer. To use it this way we reverse it and radiate our intent outward into our experience of the world. To do this upon awakening in the morning is a magnificent way to enter and embrace our waking experience of this world. It is a responsible action. However, for the purpose of activating emotional body awareness, we wield it in the order it is revealed here.

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PRACTICING HEART AWARENESS

Practicing Heart Awareness is as simple and powerful as consciously connected breathing and the repetition of our Presence Activation Statements. It is also familiar as it is an extension of what we already experience as water sessions in The Presence Process. Whereas consciously connected breathing uses the presence of our breath to anchor our attention physically in the present moment, and whereas the Presence Activation Statements use the presence of chosen thought patterns to anchor our attention mentally in the present moment, Practicing Heart Awareness uses the presence of our heartbeat to anchor our attention emotionally in the present moment. (It is advisable to re-read the previous sentence again, slowly and deliberately, to ensure we integrate it.) In this light, Practicing Heart Awareness actively takes us another step on our return journey along The Pathway of Awareness towards our vibrational body awareness. Practicing Heart Awareness is the procedure of laying back in a bath of warm water with our ears submerged so we hear the sound of our own heart beating. Our heartbeat is the presence of our emotional body manifest physically. By listening to our own heartbeat in warm water, we actively anchor our attention into our emotional body. An additional part to this practice requires we add 2 cups of unprocessed coarse sea salt to the water. Why? The best way to mentally grasp the reason for this addition is to remind ourselves that the sea is the emotional body of the planet. Our emotional body too, if we were able to pour it into a bucket, is salty. This is why our tears, being direct manifestations from our emotional body, are salty. By placing this quantity of salt into the warm water, we support our intent to reactivate emotional body awareness by manufacturing an environment mirroring our emotional body in the physical world. It is important we use coarse, unprocessed salt, as it appears when harvested from a salt pan, or from the sea. We are NOT to use fine, iodised table salt. The best place to acquire this salt at an affordable price is at swimming pool shops catering for salt-water swimming pool filters. To explore emotional body awareness activation using this procedure, it is recommended we obtain 2 sacks of salt weighing 20 to 25kg each. This is more than enough for the number of baths we shall be taking.

HOW TO PRACTICE HEART AWARENESS

1. We run a bath, initially hot water only, and add two cups filled to the brim with coarse, raw sea salt. The bath is initially filled with hot water only to assist dissolving the salt. 2. We add cold water to adjust the temperature so it is not hot, but still warm. Through practice and experimentation we ascertain the most suitable depth of the water for us. 3. It is advisable to place an alarm clock near the bathtub and set the alarm for 20 minutes. The reason is this practice often induces deep levels of relaxation and we may inadvertently fall asleep in the bathtub. 4. We enter the water and sit in it for a while, allowing our body to adjust to the temperature. A good rule of thumb is once the heat moves evenly throughout our body, as indicated by the beading of sweat on our forehead, we are ready to lie back in the water.

5. Before we lie back we internally state our intention to use this experience for the
purpose of activating emotional body awareness and the cleansing of parasitic presences from our energy field. 6. We lie back in the water, making sure our chest area is submerged, and our head is back in the water. Our ears must be submerged so that we can hear our own heartbeat. It does not matter if our hands or feet protrude from the water, but, when possible, our torso is to be completely submerged.

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7. We close our eyes and place our full attention in the centre of our chest area; our
heart centre. We allow ourselves to be there with intent to feel whatever occurs there. Initially, we may feel a sense of slight nausea present in this area. Nausea, in the context of this procedure, occurs when we perceive energetic circumstances as yet unfamiliar or still unconscious to us. As already discussed, these sensations we perceive as nausea are often indications of foreign presences in our field. We are not to react to any of this; instead we calmly place our attention on the nausea and allow it to be, observing any changes unfolding through the presence of our attention. These alien presences do not like to be watched with our attention and become uncomfortable. Also, their frequency is acidic, and therefore they cannot remain in the alkaline frequency created by the salt water. This is why salt water is reputed to be cleansing, and this is why a dip in the sea temporarily rejuvenates our spirits. As with Spinning, the salt baths cause foreign presences to move out of our field. Again, it is our consistency in this practice that ensures they experience our energetic field as too uncomfortable and therefore leave permanently. 8. By holding our attention in the area of our heart centre we gradually become aware of the sound of our own heartbeat. We then adjust our intent from feeling the energy to listening to our heart beating. As we relax into the practice, with our attention still held in the heart centre, the sound of our heartbeat becomes louder and clearer. 9. We notice that our attention wanders into other thought processes. We are not to be concerned about this. When we notice this occurring, we return it to listening to our heartbeat. This repetition of repeatedly redirecting our attention to our heartbeat begins to strengthen the mental muscle used to anchor our awareness in our emotional body. (This is the same mental muscle we use to navigate our intentions with consistency and clarity.) 10. Sometimes we may discover we connect our breathing during these sessions. We are welcome to allow this when it does occur, but we are not to breathe to the extent that the sound of our breath obscures the sound of our heartbeat. When this does occur, breathing through our mouth makes less noise than through our nose. 11. Consciously connecting our breathing is unnecessary for this procedure to be efficient; listening to the sound of our heartbeat is. Once we hear our heartbeat clearly, we are able to explore the connection between our rate and depth of breathing and the intensity of our heartbeat. We discover the deeper and fuller we breathe, the slower our heart beats. This teaches us how to actively use our breath as a tool to bring calmness to any unsettling outer life experience. 12. When the session is concluded we let the bath water out. It is recommended we shower to remove the salty water from our skin. This avoids itchiness, which may occur when we allow the salt water to dry on our skin. The salt baths wonderfully improve the health and well-being of our skin. For some of us this procedure dries our hair extensively. When this is our experience, to compensate it is recommended we wash our hair after our salt bath sessions with a mild shampoo containing an inbuilt moisturizer, or have hot oil treatments. 13. Once towelled dry, we immediately drink at least 0.5 litres of pure water. Fresh fruit or vegetable juice is also recommended. What may we expect from Practicing Heart Awareness? Any pre-conceived expectations navigate us into a mental relationship with this procedure. Because the consequences are intended to be energetic, and because we each experience a different relationship with how we perceive energy flow, whatever happens is unique to us. The text throughout BEING OUR COMPANION is scattered with clues and insights

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about the consequences of this state of being. Based on the experience of those already moving through these procedures, these are some of the outcomes: WE
EXPERIENCE DEEP MOMENTS OF INTERNAL RELAXATION WHICH TRANSFORM INTO HARMONIOUS OUTER LIFE EXPERIENCES.

WE

ARE THROWN INTO MOMENTS OF UNEXPECTED EMOTIONAL PROCESSING, AS WE COME FACE TO FACE WITH RESIDUES

OF FEAR, ANGER, AND GRIEF FROM PAST EMOTIONAL BLOCKAGES.

When this occurs we are to wield the perceptual tools taught in The Presence Process. For this purpose we may seek to review Feel It To Heal It in Session Four (TPP/Pg 164) and The Emotional Cleansing Process in Session Six (TPP/Pg 195). As we do wield these Presence Process tools in the context of activating emotional body awareness, we must remain clear we are doing so not in an attempt to change what is happing, but to feel what is happening without judgement of concern. WE WE
BY BYPASSING THE PROCESS OF MENTAL UNDERSTANDING. MAY ACQUIRE KNOWINGS ABOUT EVENTS, CIRCUMSTANCES, AND SUBJECTS APPEARING TO ARRIVE IN OUR AWARENESS

BECOME INCREASINGLY AWARE OF BEHAVIOR PATTERNS THAT ARE NOT IN LINE WITH THE RESONANCE OF OUR

INTEGRITY.

WE

MAY KNOW WE ARE GOING THROUGH A DEFINITE CHANGE, INWARDLY AND OUTWARDLY, BUT NOT BE ABLE TO

DESCRIBE WHAT IT IS TO OURSELVES OR TO ANYONE ELSE.

This is a beneficial indicator; this means we are exiting the mental paradigm and entering energetic awareness.

This salt bath practice may appear simple, and hence we may assume it is not powerful, yet it is deceptively so. For this reason, it is imperative we do not commence this until we complete The Presence Process at least once, preferably twice, and we give ourselves at least three months of breathing for 15-minutes twice a day to integrate that procedure. This is not a rule; it is a guideline to ensure continued responsibility, gentleness, and comfort throughout our journey. We are not to hurry into any of this as though we are attempting to arrive somewhere. There is nowhere (NOW HERE) to go. The more conscientious we are about our journey through The Presence Process, the gentler our ride is into emotional body awareness.

THE SALT/BICARBONATE SODA CLEANSE

RECOMMENDATION: Every second week while attending to our daily salt baths, in addition to the salt we also add one cup of Bicarbonate of Soda to the bath water. We then commence our 20 minute soak as normal. This creates a powerful cleansing bath that draws toxins from our skin. This is a wonderful treat and like everything, is not to be overdone. It is important to drink at least two glasses of pure water after this.

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RECOMMENDED EMOTIONAL BODY AWARENESS PROCESS

It is recommended we place the emotional body awareness procedures within the context of a process to assist us with consistency of practice. Unlike The Presence Process, there is not set structure to follow; we are instead provided with a recommended outline that we may use as a guideline to establish our own pathway into this new leg of our experience. This is where added personal responsibility is seeded. There is however one word of most importance when wielding any of these procedures: CONSISTENCY Whatever we do we are encouraged to do it consistently. If we cannot yet wield the behavioral trait of consistency then it is more beneficial to repeat The Presence Process again so we may accumulate the level of personal presence that makes consistency possible. The following is a recommended process structure we may experiment with for a period of 10 weeks. Again, a minimum of 10 weeks is recommended for the purpose of achieving real feedback on the consequences these procedures.

1. BREATHING

FOR 15-MINUTES EVERY MORNING AND EVENING AS PER THE PRESENCE PROCESS. It is recommended we continue with our breathing practice because it is an efficient tool for grounding and integrating our life experiences. One of the consequences of activating emotional body awareness is it brings to the surface residues of emotional blockages not yet fully integrated. The breathing assists us to integrate these when they occur.

2. SPINNING

AT LEAST ONCE EVERY MORNING AT THE

11-BREATH

FREQUENCY,

after our 15-minute breathing

session.

3. TAKING ONE 20-MINUTE HEART AWARENESS SALT BATH EVERY MORNING, after our spinning. 4. CONTINUING
TO READ PRESENT MOMENT AWARENESS LITERATURE BY REVIEWING THE PRESENCE PROCESS AND BEING OUR COMPANION. All other publications released by Namaste Publishing Co. (www.namstepublishing.com) are also present moment awareness literature and are consistent with our intent. Many other publications on present moment awareness are also available, like Zen literature, etc. Once we commence a structured emotional body awareness procedure we will discover that re-reading BEING OUR COMPANION reveals insights that only become apparent when activating these procedures. OUR

5. REPEAT

MENTALLY OCCUPIED.

EMOTIONAL BODY RADIANCE STATEMENT

AT JUNCTURES THROUGHOUT OUR DAY WHENEVER WE ARE NOT

After 10 weeks we are encouraged to take a break to allow the effects of our activation practices to integrate. As with The Presence Process, it is useful to repeat this process at least once. If we feel overwhelmed at any point during our experience, we may choose to take a pause from our activation activities. It is recommended when we do take a pause in the midst of a 10-week cycle, we do so for no longer than two days. We are now arriving at a point in our journey when we are required to trust our own Inner Voice above and beyond any outer voice in this world. This book is an outer voice; it is a guide, not a rule book. Moving through this entire procedure in this atmosphere, by turning inward wherever possible, by trusting our own intuition above all else, further assists us to flex our muscles as conscious self-facilitators.

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PART VII: INNER WORK

1. Why is it that since completing The Presence meditation takes on a whole new meaning? Process, the practice of

In answering this question, it is useful to enter a discussion about what the authentic purpose of meditation is, because there is one. Often people say, The breathing meditation we do in The Presence Process is powerful. This is an incorrect perception. The breathing exercise in The Presence Process is not meditation; it is an exercise in breathing consciously and connectedly. At the most it is a practice. Because the word meditation is flung around in this world so arbitrarily it is now devoid of deliberate meaning. The haphazard use of this word turns the word itself into a veil hiding its own authentic purpose. Meditation contains the same Latin root as the words, medication and cure. But what is it medicating and what does it cure? Stress? We may have heard it said, Do meditation because it eases stress. We now call any practice designed to calm ourselves, a meditation. Relaxation exercises are now called meditations. Visualization and contemplation practices are now called meditations. Contemplation, visualization, and meditation are now interchangeable as words. Many fitness gyms and health clubs now offer meditation as part of their corporate or executive de-stressing package. Indeed, the word meditation is now a catch-phrase. Calmness and relaxation are the fruits of authentic meditation, but not the object of practicing it. Contemplation and visualization are a part of the meditative technology, but not all contemplative or visualization practices are necessarily meditation. It may well appear we are becoming sidetracked here by semantics, or splitting hairs, but there is a reason for making a clear distinction. The reason is: Many souls on this planet seek authentic meditation and are being misled by signs and advertisements announcing meditation classes. These signs would be more accurate if they announced contemplation or relaxation or visualization classes. The moment we use the word meditation and relaxation in the same sentence, the chances are high we do not know the authentic purpose of this vibrational technology. It does not mean we are ignorant, it means, like a large part of our planets population, we are misinformed and misled. When any term becomes a catch-phrase, like the word meditation now is, the chances are it also is a means to catch a portion of our well-earned income. A golden rule as far as authentic meditation is this: WHEN ANYONE CHARGES MONEY FOR TEACHING MEDITATION, IT IS NOT AUTHENTIC MEDITATION THEY ARE TEACHING. THERE IS NO EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE. An exchange of money always ties us to the activities of the outer world, the realm of cause and effect. Authentic meditation intends delivering inward and freeing us from this wheel. Therefore, as an entry point into comprehending the authentic purpose of meditation, the first thing to understand is that it is not about enhancing our life experience as we move through this world. This is a good starting point in knowing what meditation is not; it is not something we do as a means to improve the quality of our life experience. THE PRESENCE PROCESS teaches us everything we require to improve the quality of our life experience; that is its primary intent. It also, in the same breath, leads us towards the practice of authentic meditation. When we explore the terrain of our Inner Presence with great determination, when we pursue the pathway into present moment awareness, it is inevitable we activate the level of awareness leading us to asking the question whose answer is: Meditation. So, what is the purpose of authentic meditation? It is the procedure whereby we withdraw our attention from everything known in this world, with the intention of moving our awareness inward and upward to explore our inner vibrational dimension, with the intent of taking up permanent residence there as the foundational point of our experiences. Authentic meditation is therefore a vibrational technology whose soul Purpose is to transform the entire

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resonance of our experience from physical, mental, and emotional, into one that is vibrational. It activates vibrational body awareness. AUTHENTIC
MEDITATION IS NOT ABOUT CONTEMPLATING THE BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS OF THIS WORLD UNTIL WE FEEL CALMER; IT IS ABOUT FORGETTING ABOUT THE FLOWERS OF THIS WORLD ALTOGETHER.

Authentic meditation is an internal practice; about returning our awareness to the Reality we conceptually call God. This accomplishment requires a death of what we think we are now and a rebirth into a state called Life that contains no point of reference in our present outer physical, mental, and emotional experience called living. Although what we think of as God is expressed everywhere in this outer world, this Reality of God cannot be realized experientially by searching for it the outer world, or by searching for it by using anything of the outer world. What God is may only be known when we redirect our attention into ourselves to the extent that we withdraw it completely from all our outer physical, mental, and emotional experiences. Authentic meditation is the therefore highest frequency of inner work we may practice while in this world. How do we accomplish this?

NO

ACTIVITY ENGAGING MOVEMENT ACCOMPLISHES THIS INTERNALIZATION, BECAUSE MOVEMENT OF THE BODY GENERATES

AN AUTOMATIC OUTPOURING OF OUR SENSES INTO THE WORLD.

Authentic meditation therefore only commences when we learn to still the body so that we completely forget it. To accomplish this it is necessary to first enter our body fully; only 100% physical presence qualifies us to enter this super-conscious level of inner stillness. NO
ACTIVITY ENGAGING THOUGHT-PROCESSES ACCOMPLISHES THIS INTERNALIZAION, BECAUSE THINKING CAUSES THE

MENTAL BODY TO REACTIVATE ALL IT THINKS IT KNOWS; THIS OUTER WORLD.

Only once we accomplish 100% mental clarity is the mind stilled; when the mind is not clear on why it needs to be stilled, it bucks its thoughts outwardly into the world like an untamed stallion. NO
ACTIVITY ENTERTAINING ANY EMOTIONAL STATE ACCOMPLISHES THIS INTERNALIZATION, BECAUSE ALL OUR KNOWN

EMOTIONAL STATES ARE INTERTWINED WITH THE ENERGIES FLOWING DOWNWARD AND OUTWARD INTO THIS WORLD.

Only once we restore balance to our emotional body by neutralizing our relationship with it do we calm our emotional body completely. This entails engaging the emotional body to cleanse it of all energetic blockages so that we cease seeking out a polar opposite to the discomfort it is generating.

The only experience we know of in this world that accomplishes this physical, mental, and emotional stillness is death; when we are dead, to the outside world we appear 100% physically still, mentally silent, and emotional neutral. Therefore, by way of this point of reference, authentic meditation is to practise dying while we are living. Normally, because of our predicament in a time-based paradigm, one in which most of our awareness is unconsciously attached to some illusory past or future, we are rendered unconscious at the time of our physical death experience. Why? Because we do not operate from the causal point of our experiences, and therefore we cannot perceive deaths inevitable approach. Consequently, as the experience unfolds, we enter the resonance reactively and fearfully. This causes us to enter a deep state of unconsciousness; we run from and fight the moment as opposed to embracing it. Therefore, while we live in a time-based paradigm, the procedure of our physical death to this world hijacks our life experience, ambushing us, and dressing us in robes of great surprise. One moment we are in this life experience, and in the next this life experience slips away. In a time-based paradigm it is not possible to live consciously, therefore our death experience envelopes our awareness without our conscious participation. IF
WE DO NOT LIVE CONSCIOUSLY, WE DIE UNCONSCIOUSLY.

When we die unconsciously, at the time of this crucial transition, we lose all awareness of our physical, mental, and emotional experiences here. Instead of being able to navigate this experience consciously, we are pulled along by it. We are dragged along unconsciously by our unresolved attachments to the human beings, conditions, and circumstances of this world into another life experience in this same world. The new life experience gives us the

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opportunity to bring resolution to these unresolved attachments. This is why we re-enter this world feeling and behaving like victims or victors; because we are dragged unconsciously back into it. Once reborn into this world seemingly against our own will, we automatically seek someone to blame for our unfortunate predicament. Authentic meditation is the art of training ourselves to die consciously, by learning how to extract our full awareness from this world while we are still living in it. Its authentic purpose is therefore: TO
APPROACH, EXPERIENCE, OVERCOME, AND MOVE BEYOND DEATH, WHILE ALIVE, SO THE EXPERIENCE DOES NOT TAKE US BY SURPRISE AND RENDER US UNCONSCIOUS AGAIN.

When we go on holiday, we do not wait until the day we depart to pack, choose a destination, and buy our travel tickets. We attend to this in advance. Why then do we face our moment of physical death, our departure from this particular life experience, in a haphazard manner? When viewed from the perspective of present moment awareness, it is obvious this life experience is no different to a temporary stay in a hotel; we are all passing through. Why then do we behave as though we are not at some point booking out? No wonder we are so confused and frightened when our departure time arrives. Our fear of death and our mourning of the death of others is one of the consequences of our living in a time-based paradigm. It does not assist us to go to a priest and have them guarantee that if we pray, are well behaved, and give enough money to the poor and to the church, we are taken care of at the time of our death. To behave in this manner and to believe this advice is nave. Only we are able to guarantee our death occurs consciously, and the only way to accomplish this is to practice it and succeed at it while we are still alive and conscious. Authentic meditation is any procedure that makes this possible. Once we comprehend the caliber of this inner work and distinguish its intent from all other worldly physical, mental, and emotional procedures, it is obvious that any practice entertaining outer rites, rituals, dogmas, chanting, and/or ceremonies, is not and cannot serve the intent of authentic meditation. Any practice moving our attention into contemplation of or on this world, to the slightest degree, cannot serve to prepare us to perfect the art of dying consciously to it. But why, it may be asked, do we seek to accomplish a preparation for death when death is inevitable? Why not let it take its course? Aside from the obvious explanation, which is the intent to not be dragged into another life experience whose entire frequency is decided by our unresolved unconscious activity, there is another purpose for this practice: TO
REALIZE WHAT WE ARE SO WE MAY REALIZE WHAT

GOD IS.

It is only by intending to extract ourselves from the experience of living while we are alive that we may enter and comprehend what Life is; and hence what we are, and therefore what God is. God cannot be known by looking out upon this world, just as the chemical composition of the sun cannot be known by feeling the warmth of its rays. God is known by entering the inner sanctum of our inner body-temple, just as the chemical composition of the sun is known by sending a probe into its core. One of the gifts inherent in the fabric of THE PRESENCE PROCESS is it empowers us to move towards an encounter with Life, with God, by initiating the three states of being required to engage the task of authentic meditation; physical presence, mental clarity, and emotional balance. The Presence Process is an introductory training for authentic meditation, for inner work, for living so we may approach the art of dying consciously. It prepares us for the one task more daunting than living consciously; dying consciously. THE
FRUITS AND FLOWERS OF LIVING CONSCIOUSLY IS THE OPPORTUNITY TO LIVE FULLY, BUT THE REWARD OF DYING CONSCIOUSLY IS

LIFE ETERNAL.

When we are able to accomplish the feat of entering death and remaining alert, as opposed to reacting in fear to the unfolding experience and losing consciousness, we overcome death completely, we completely resurrect ourselves from the dream of time. We are only required to accomplish this feat once. Dying consciously while alive is what is

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required to extract our consciousness from the time-based paradigm and to enter ongoing 100% present moment awareness. Then the lessons this creation teaches us are learnt. If we do not accomplish this, if we are overcome by unconsciousness at the moment of our death, then we automatically re-enter the time-based paradigm because we still have lessons to learn from it. Of course, when we attend to the inner work of extracting ourselves from time during the course of any particular lifetime, and still do not complete the task within that lifetime, our subsequent births always take place in circumstances supporting the continuation of this intent. No effort in these matters is ever lost or wasted. This is Grace. The only way to know for sure that we are rid of the unconscious attachments causing continual rebirth into this world is to carry out the procedure of extracting our awareness from this physical, mental, and emotional world while we are still in it; to die while living. Accomplishing this means we overcome all our unconscious tendencies. This is what Saint Paul refers to in the Christian Bible when he states, I die daily. He is telling us He practices authentic meditation everyday. This is what Jesus taught to his disciples to practice. This is the authentic explanation of the intent behind being born again; unless we consciously die to this world and birth ourselves into our vibrational awareness while we are still in this world, there is no possibility we shall accomplish this at the time of death or in the realms beyond. This is because it is only possible to accomplish this feat when we have access to a physical, mental, and emotional body; the entire Pathway of Awareness. Without a physical body we cannot ground and focus our consciousness in a manner required to navigate and propel it into the vibrational realm. As Tolle says, Life is not the opposite of death; birth is the opposite of death. By consciously overcoming death we are neutralizing the necessity for further birth experiences. Then we enter Life; a state of being beyond polarity. Where there is no polarity, no opposites, there is oneness. This is what God-realisation is. This is the gift of Life offered to the living; a gift only available while we are living in this physical, mental, and emotional world. This is the gift of time. When we are in the world of time, of the living, we receive the opportunity to die consciously. But the first step is to awaken from time as efficiently as we are able to while we are in it. If we do not accomplish this, we are dead to Life no matter how much living we experience. We are therefore to awaken and live consciously so we may give ourselves the opportunity to learn how to die consciously. This is what The Presence Process empowers us to accomplish experientially. This is why THE PRESENCE PROCESS states that the consequences of taking full responsibility for the quality of our life experience are eternal. Completing The Presence Process definitely assists us if we are drawn to participate in authentic meditation. But if we are not, it also assists us with our practices of contemplation and visualization, and any other practices we do for enhanced relaxation, like yoga. Nothing enhances our outer life experience more than the accumulation of present moment awareness. Contemplating on a flower, singing a hymn, repeating a mantra, or going through a yoga movement become full and beautiful experiences when we accumulate present moment awareness. Embracing the company of our Inner Presence makes our journey through our outer world experience joyful. 2. Is it possible to further explore the subject of recommending some type of practical application? inner work with a view to

Yes. When we activate emotional body awareness, it is crucial our intent to do so moves us towards the experience of Life, and not of the living. To ensure our intent is aligned with Life, it is recommended we become aware of and available to the daily practice of inner work. Being aware of what inner work is, and that this practice exists, guarantees our attention begins moving towards Life and away from the drama of living. This is because we only understand what inner work is and why there is a necessity for it when we are already able to differentiate between Life and the living. By completing The Presence Process, we manifest less drama in our outer life experiences. This is because we are now conscious of what drama is and therefore embrace responsive behavior. This is the power of our consciousness; we transform whatever we become aware of, and the quality of the transformation is determined by our intent; our emotional content. When we function sanely, it is because our attention is directed by our intent, not the other way around. Sanity is when the heart moves the head, when activity is

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fueled with conscience, and when behavior is wrapped in an aura of consequence. When the head takes the lead, we become overly mental, and our actions are devoid of feeling, and hence conscience. This is why it is important to complete The Presence Process before we intend initiating the experience of anchoring our awareness into our emotional body. The Presence Process transforms our emotional intent into an energetic frequency that serves us, and hence the world we move through. This adjustment is crucial, because entering emotional body awareness in a reactionary frame of mind leads to chaos, destruction, confusion, and turmoil. Consequently, it breeds interference. Entering emotional body awareness in a responsible frame of mind leads to communion, acceptance, embrace, and therefore oneness. Consequently, it seeds compassion into our experiences, not interference. THE
PRACTICE OF INNER WORK IS WHEN WE PARTAKE IN ANY PROCEDURE THAT REDIRECTS OUR ATTENTION FROM THE OUTER

EXPERIENCE OF LIVING INTO THE INNER SANCTUM OF

ENTIRE INTENTION IS TO REDIRECT THE FLOW OF OUR ATTENTION, AND HENCE AWARENESS, FROM OUTWARD TO INWARD, FROM OUT THERE TO IN HERE. IT IS A PRACTICE UNFOLDING INDEPENDENTLY OF OUR OUTER LIFE EXPERIENCE AND CONTAINS AT ITS CORE THE INTENTION TO DETACH OUR AWARENESS FROM THE OUTER WORLD. INNER WORK THEREFORE MOVES US BEYOND ANY CAUSAL INTENT, INTO NEUTRALITY, AND GIVES RISE TO NO EFFECTS IN OUR OUTER LIFE EXPERIENCES. IT NEUTRALIZES ANY POSSIBILITY OF OF CAUSE AND EFFECT, AND THEREFORE BEYOND THE REALM OF THE PHYSICAL, MENTAL, AND EMOTIONAL TERRITORY CALLED

LIFE. IT

IS NOT-DOING, OR UNDOING, OR BEING IN ITS PUREST FORM. ITS

MANIFESTING FURTHER INCARNATIONS IN THE PHYSICAL, MENTAL, AND EMOTIONAL REALM. IT CARRIES US BEYOND THE JURISDICTION CREATION. IT IS THE ULTIMATE PROCEDURE FOR UNHOOKING OUR SOUL FROM MATTER, TIME, AND SPACE, AND THEREFORE FROM THE ENDLESS WHEEL OF BIRTH AND DEATH. IT IS THE SUPREME ACT OF SURRENDER AND THEREFORE THE ULTIMATE PROCEDURE FOR STEPPING THROUGH THE DOORWAY INTO WHAT WE THINK OF AS IN THAT IT RESTS UPON THE TRINITY OF SILENCE, STILLNESS, AND INVISIBILITY.

GODS PRESENCE. AUTHENTIC INNER WORK IS ALSO IDENTIFIABLE CONSEQUENTLY, IT MOVES OUR AWARENESS BEYOND BEGINNINGS OR ENDINGS.

In Session One of The Presence Process we are instructed on how to attend to our consciously connected breathing. We are also asked to spend a few moments, after completing our 15 minutes of breathing, sitting silently in the stillness. This experience of quietness, of stillness, attended to out of the sight of anyone is a taste of what inner work is. These empty moments after our breathing are the doorway to our soul. We are doing nothing; we are just being, sitting, not moving, not making a sound, listening, looking into the blackness behind our eyelids. This is the unknown frontier; the doorway leading out of our illusions of the outer world and into the Reality of Life. This silence, stillness, and invisibility, when we protect it, nurture it, build on it, become at home within it, and thirst for it more than anything the forms, movements, and sounds of this world offer, becomes our rock of alertness. The alertness we build within it contains the power to keep us conscious right through the experience called death. Until we are ready for inner work, our attention is moving downward and outward into the world; we are enthralled by the gravity of our life experiences here. Whether they are majestic or miserable, they trap our full attention. While we live in a time-based paradigm, we do not know, or consider, there is somewhere else to place our attention. The ever-shifting sands of time keep us so busy we do not take a moment to consider whether there is a rock of permanence for us to climb upon. When we follow any of the conservative religions, we may believe in the stories of life after death. But we do not have proof. We may cling to the hopeful possibility of the potential heavens and hells encouraging us to accept this blind belief, but while we are in this world, we are not experientially aware of any other place. This place, this planet, this physical, mental, and emotional experience, is all there is to us, and any idea of there being another reality is a blind belief or wishful thinking, not a knowing. When we evolve beyond conservative religion and become metaphysically inclined, our minds may be open to the concept of there being other dimensions, and our subsequent curiosity may attract us to writings and teachings illuminating us about possibilities of other dimensions. We may even believe we visit these places in our dreamtime, or through practices like astral projection. Yet, despite our beliefs, suspicions, or vivid imaginings, our attention still runs downward and outward into our outer life experiences here. When conservative religion and metaphysics do not hold our attention, we may explore the fringes of mysticism, and therefore our mind may be open to the possibility of reincarnation and past lives. We may suspect we lived elsewhere at another time. We may

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participate in past life regression practices and recall these experiences. This does not alter the downward and outward flow of our attention into this world. This is because it does not matter in what we choose to believe; our attention flows towards what we know. It is what we know that matters, or materializes, as an authentic experience to us. Spill a glass of liquid and watch it; the liquid moves downward and outward. This is the nature, and the gravity, of energy in this worldly experience of ours. NO
MATTER HOW MUCH WE BELIEVE IN SOMEWHERE ELSE, EACH MORNING WHEN WE AWAKE, OUR ATTENTION ANCHORS OUR AWARENESS HERE, INTO THE EXPERIENCE OF THIS WORLD.

So while we are here, it appears we cannot leave other than through the doorway of the experience called death. Until this experience occurs, we attach our awareness to this world. We invest our thoughts, words, and deeds into our experience of this world. We establish ourselves here, though we may hate it. We focus our efforts on investing in our life experience here. We glue ourselves here through the accumulation of possessions. These possessions then in turn possess us to the point they determine how we use our allotted time here. This way of living, this attachment of our awareness to this world, is deemed normal behavior by this world. It is deemed sanity. It is encouraged and expected. No one gives us a reason to believe there is a different road map to follow. Yet, despite the overwhelming evidence confronting us daily that everything in this world begins and ends, we behave like guests who are unaware we are at some point destined to book out of the hotel. Everything around us shouts loudly, Everything here ends! This is true a cup of tea, a leaf on a tree, a sunny afternoon, and a wave in the ocean. All that moves, makes a sound, and is visible in this world, begins and ends. Those aspects of our own identity in this world, our behavior, our appearance, and our life circumstances, also move through cycles that begin and end. This includes our thoughts, words, and deeds, and all that we embrace within the realms of our physical, mental, and emotional experiences. Yet surprisingly, we who consider ourselves to be the most aware life form on this planet ignore this predicament. We celebrate our day of birth every year, but we pretend death away. We behave as though it shall not happen to us. Yet, when death occurs in our midst, to those around us, we enter a dramatic performance unlike any that we exhibit towards other events in our life experience. Our reactive drama around death reveals our terror, our ignorance, and our vulnerability. Our reactive drama reflects our un-evolved and immature perceptions, our lack of preparation for what is the most inevitable experience we face while journeying through the land of the living. Why do we mourn anothers death experience so dramatically? We mourn, because deep down within our ancient and well-hidden memory, we know that the unconscious way we live in this world prepares us for one certain eventuality: WHEN
WE MOVE THROUGH OUR EXPERIENCE OF DEATH, AND WHEN WE RE-ENTER OUR NEXT EXPERIENCE, WE LOSE AWARENESS OF EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED IN THE HERE AND NOW.

We lose THE NOW and our access to the treasures of our accumulated experiences held within it. This is one of the reasons we cling to this world like a mother holding onto a child that is about to be taken away forever. No fancy promises from the priesthood, no metaphysical insights, and no New Age stories about angels and heavenly realms subdue this anxiety. Our awareness of the tragedy of our predicament spills out like tears onto a coffin. THE
EXPERIENCE CALLED DEATH STALKS US ALL, AND WHEN IT POUNCES, ROBS US OF OUR MEMORY, AND THEREFORE SHROUDS US IN FALSE ROBES OF MORTALITY.

While our attention is transfixed by the physical world, our physical death leads us to mistakenly believe that we have a beginning and therefore an ending. It suffocates our soul awareness by stuffing our attention into an experience of the living instead of the eternal Reality of Life. It repeatedly imprisons us into an externalized experience of temporary matter, a piece of space, and a portion of time, all limited in every aspect. This is the real trauma of being born into this world. This is the primal suffering an unconditional being faces by entering a conditional experience.

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LIVING

IS WHAT HELL IS FOR OUR SOUL.

Our ancient fear of deaths inevitable approach, and the repetitive anesthetizing consequence it has on our soul-awareness, works in its favor; instead of confronting it, we cower from it. We distract ourselves from its inevitable attack by turning our attention towards embracing the temporary experience of the living it sentences us too. Yet, we do not perceive that by hiding from our own death in this manner, by ignoring its inevitable approach, we hide the Reality of Life from ourselves. By ignoring death we therefore remain ignorant of Life. FACING
DEATH CONSCIOUSLY IS THE ONLY WAY TO EMBRACE

LIFE.

Those, who through inner work, die while living, are the only ones among us at peace amidst this worlds ongoing funeral procession. Choosing to instill inner work into our life experience is the only way to awaken from this. Inner work re-instills the Inner Presence of Life into our awareness. This is because the practice of inner work is the act of shifting our attention away from all that is living so that it is available and vulnerable to experiencing Life. No other way exists. Everything we do outwardly serves only to involve us further in this world. UNTIL
WE ACTIVATE A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF

LIFE,

WE CANNOT KNOW IT, AND SO OUR MIND DOES NOT DETACH FROM WHAT IT

DOES KNOW; THIS TRANSIENT WORLD.

Until our mind tastes Life, it joins the ranks of deaths intent in doing everything in its power to keep us distracted by and attached to this physical, mental, and emotional experience. Yet the moment our mind, through our practice of inner work, attains the slightest glimpse of Life, it becomes our greatest servant. (This is a clue to transforming the ego and the thinking mind into attributes.) One real glimpse of what Life is convinces the mind to join us in moving our attention beyond the limitations of matter, time, and space. From this moment onward, our liberation is inevitable, but up until this moment, it fights us like a rabid dog to uphold our death sentence. All the many outer expressions of Life in this world have something in common; they are pre-disposed to the trinity of movement, sound, and form. They are the opposite of the inner trinity of Life; silence, stillness, and invisibility. How do we know what is living? It contains a form, it moves, and it makes a sound. To our present limited human perception, the living may not contain all three of these attributes, but they embody at least one in an obvious way. The nature of these three outer attributes is that they all experience a beginning and an ending. Movement, form, and sound all begin and end. They are birthed and they die. This means they are an expression of that which is real, but they are of themselves not real, they are transient, shadows cast in time. They are a dance, not The Dancer. Movement, sound, and form always return to and merge again into silence, stillness, and invisibility. Our failing in this world is that, despite the fact we have now arrived at a point of bringing awareness of our unconscious condition, we still insist on attaching ourselves to this transient shadow-dance, and not to The Dancer. And because we insist on attaching our awareness to what must, by the nature of its experience in this world, begin and end, we too condemn ourselves to experiencing a beginning and an ending. By continuing to live in this manner, despite Quantum Physics telling us energy continues forever, means we choose to build our houses on the outer sands of time, instead of the inner rock of permanence. To continue in this manner is like arriving at the banquet we used all of time to prepare for ourselves, yet not allowing ourselves to enjoy the feast. By not awakening as immortals beings right now, we are using our time and energy pouring ourselves the most delicious Chalice of Elixir comprehensible, but not drinking it. To comprehend this predicament, to awaken the remembrance of our ancient intent, to initiate a different choice to the ones we made through human history, is to enter the terrain of inner work. Making this choice for ourselves is one of the gifts The Presence Process makes possible. This is because it is only when we awaken ourselves to present moment awareness, that we become alerted to the predicament that we are alive to living, but dead to Life. Comprehending this predicament is the turning point in our ghostly existence. Then we may chart a pathway out of this repetitive dream and raise ourselves from the dead. This is our

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destiny; this is what we have set ourselves up for. This is the unfolding prophecy into which our humanity now awakes. By aligning ourselves with the daily practice of inner work we responsibly take the steps leading us into the next chapter of our evolution. At this point in our adventure into present moment awareness, this translates into setting our intention to cleanse our emotional body as much as possible so that we may commence the task of activating emotional body awareness. By entering emotional body awareness with this level of clarity about our intent intact, we are not distracted by the grief, anger, and fear riddling the emotional bodies of the living; instead we navigate towards the eternal bliss, peace, and love radiating from the heart of Life. We cannot assist the living by fiddling with their outer circumstances, just as we cannot assist ourselves by fiddling with ours. This is what The Presence Process demonstrates to us; by moving inward what we accomplish is real and therefore lasting. This is the unknown frontier. Is there a greater adventure? Even though our emotional body may not yet be cleansed to a point that is comfortable to us, and even though we may not yet be practicing anchoring emotional body awareness, we may still be eager to commence the practice of authentic meditation. Let us not be impatient. If we continue along the inner pathway toward 100% present moment awareness all is inevitably revealed. WHEN
THE STUDENT MOVES INWARD, THE

TEACHER

COMES OUT.

For now, let us be aware that whenever we sit still and place our attention on the silence within, on the darkness behind our eyelids, and whenever we attend to this practice alone, we attend to our inner work. Through this simple practice we call for our Teacher and the knowledge of Life. When we close our eyes in silence and stillness, we look into a Reality beyond beginnings, endings, or polarity. For this reason it may appear to our senses and mind that we see nothing, and that nothing is happening. But this is not true. We have not yet awoken to and developed the perceptual capacities enabling us to perceive a world beyond form, movement, and outer noise. We have not yet activated vibrational body awareness. Nevertheless, let us be sure of one thing right now: We live in a universe propelled by cause and effect. Therefore, when we one-pointedly place our attention on any cause, we activate an experience of the effect. Whatever question we ask, without letting our ego and thinking mind meddle with the answer, is always answered. Therefore, our task right now is to quest for Life, and to love this quest. To declare within ourselves, HERE WE ARE, STILL AS A STATUE, SILENT AS EMPTINESS, INVISIBLE AS YOU ARE TO THE WORLD. WE ARE HERE, NOW, BY YOUR GRACE, SEEKING YOU AND ONLY YOU. PLEASE REVEAL YOURSELF. THANK YOU. We practice our inner work with faith. When our physical presence embraces the mental clarity of this prayer, to the point that it penetrates every pore of our being with love and devotion for Life, Life comes running. Our task NOW is to open this doorway with our attention focused upon this intent, to allot time to sit every day at this doorway practicing inner work, until Life calls. And It shall, for Love cannot resist itself. Love always comes running to embrace Itself whenever it perceives Its arms opening for this embrace. INNER
WORK IS THE PRACTICE OF OPENING OUR ARMS TO EMBRACE

LIFE;

IT IS LOVE CALLING FOR ITSELF.

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CALL ME
When you call me, I hear, Think of me, I appear, But when you are afraid of what you make, You do not perceive me through your fear. When you believe in the world, You do not know about me, When you believe in what you are told, You do not know what sets you free. If you seek what is real, Then close your eyes, For what is real we barely feel, But feeling is more than being wise. I come not from below, I come not from above, I come not from what you know, I only come from, I only come for, Love.

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ALSO

WRITTEN BY

MICHAEL BROWN

THE PRESENCE PROCESS: A HEALING JOURNEY INTO PRESENT MOMENT AWARENESS Published by Namaste Publishing Inc. www.namastepublishing.com

Activating the unlimited power and possibilities of our inner presence is the intent of THE PRESENCE PROCESS. Our inner presence literally knows no order of difficulty and so activating this aspect of ourselves enables us to process the nature of any unintegrated life experience. However, our presence awareness is not a concept. It cannot be explained to us by anybody else. We have to experience it and the consequences of accumulating it before we can begin to grasp what the word presence means. THE PRESENCE PROCESS is an experiential journey that enables us to accomplish this.

See www.thepresenceportal.com for other written and audio works by Michael Brown.

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